Kazuo Ishiguro’s Ikigai: Uniqueness vs. Affiliation. A study of a dominant motif.
Валерий Германович Тимофеев
Докладчик
доцент
Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет
Санкт-Петербургский государственный университет
2-у
2018-03-20
18:20 -
18:40
Ключевые слова, аннотация
Kazuo
Ishiguro, Ikigai, motif, comparative studies, influence
Тезисы
Critics used to speculate upon
possible Japanese impact on Kazuo Ishiguro at the beginning of his career. He
would ridicule any suggestion of the problem. “They make a lot of my being
Japanese and try to mention the two or three authors they’ve vaguely heard of.
[…] I've grown up reading Western fiction: Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Charlotte
Bronte, Dickens.” (Kazuo Ishiguro, 1989). The understatement seems to be
obvious - it is not being Japanese that matters, the problem is that they know
nothing about Japanese culture. My discussion of the problem is in fact
addressing a minute part of the issue. I suggest that Ikigai, a Japanese
notion, might help us comprehend Kazuo Ishiguro’s dominant motive as a
dichotomy of Uniqueness and Affiliation.