An Analysis Of The Unconsoled From The Perspective Of Metaphorical Mapping

Kazuo Ishiguro is a famous British-born "new internationalist" writer.And the research object of the thesis is just his fourth novel-The Unconsoled.The novel tells the story of the pianist Ryder during his four-day stay in one European townlet for the sake of attending "Thursday Night" This thesis views the town as the epitome of Ryder's life and that of the common people nowadays.Kazuo Ishiguro intends to inform and remind readers of what the living state of them is like through this novel.He expects them to realize that they are leading a life just like Ryder's in fact,and to reflect upon such a situation.With that in mind,this thesis attempts to innovatively apply the theory that is unprecedent in previous studies about The Unconsoled to analyze the absurdity of the plot,as well as the temporal and spatial dislocations,in the novel,with a view of interpreting the plights faced by characters.Firstly,the cognitive metaphorical mapping theory is drawn upon to analyze the relation between characters appearing in the novel and the protagonist Ryder,that is,to analyze how people and events encountered by Ryder in the novel have reflected his(past,present and future)life.Secondly,the thesis analyzes the life track of Ryder to show that of an everyman.And then,the plights encountered by the protagonist and other characters are respectively examined to reveal the existence of the general public that the author wants to show.Finally,the thesis summarizes the reality that the author attempts to make readers aware of——people are immersed in the various plights.Regarding the townlet in the novel as the source-domain concept,projecting the slots it contains,the features of slots,the relationships between the slots and the knowledge expressed in the relationships onto the target-domain concept the world or society.The thesis shows the theme of the novel,indicates the author's writing intention,and at the same time,proves the rationality of the absurdity and displacement in the novel and explains the significance of them.