47th International Philological Research Conference

Kazuo Ishiguro’s Ikigai: Uniqueness vs. Affiliation. A study of a dominant motif.

Валерий Германович Тимофеев
Докладчик
доцент
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.