| My project is to investigate the ways in which the characters in Kazuo Ishiguro's novels An Artist of the Floating World, The Remains of the Day, and Never Let Me Go are affected by their over-identification with their professions. The theme of using a professional identity in order to defer responsibility and avoid having to face unpleasant truths about their lives is strongly evidenced in the characters of each of the novels that I will discuss. Through the discussion of scientific management techniques formulated in the last century I plan to show the way in which the professionalism that Ishiguro portrays is marked by a sacrifice of the personal and the individual, leading to his subjects constantly have to revise their life stories in order to contextualize them according to current circumstances. By the use of feedback loops in the thought processes of individuals that cleave too strongly to professionalism, Ishiguro's characters reconfigure personal and public events into a reinforcement of their careers and lifestyles. My thesis will use these aspects of professionalism to demonstrate the way in which capitalism forces individuals to ascribe to ideologies and actions that attempt reduce individual choice and solidify the authority of those in power. |
