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Memory and Understanding in Ishiguro.

Teo, Y., 2023. Memory and Understanding in Ishiguro. In: Bennett, A., ed. The Cambridge Companion to Kazuo Ishiguro. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 226-239.

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Official URL: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge...

DOI: 10.1017/9781108909525.020

Abstract

When Never Let Me Go was published in 2005, Ishiguro indicated that he ‘remain[ed] fascinated by memory’, and that his next challenge was to examine the themes of national memory and forgetting. The Buried Giant, published in 2015, represents Ishiguro’s unique meditations on collective memory, understanding, and the complexities of forgetting. Utilizing a third-person narrative voice, Ishiguro orchestrates a post-Arthurian landscape of buried slaughter and collective amnesia, whilst engaging in a critical enquiry into the nature of shared memories in relationships. This chapter will begin by considering Ishiguro’s memory work in his earlier novels, before an investigation into the fallibility of memory and understanding precipitated by the enigmatic mist. This is followed by an exploration of the question of culpability and the complexities of collective memory. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the figure of the boatman, the island of forgetting, and the implications of an enforced forgetting.

Item Type:Book Section
ISBN:9781108830218
Series Name:Cambridge Companions to Literature
Additional Information:Cambridge Uni Press self-archiving policy 6 month embargo: https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/open-access-policies/open-access-books/green-open-access-policy-for-books
Uncontrolled Keywords:memory; The Buried Giant; atrocity; genocide; forgetting; amnesia; community; nation; Britain
Group:Faculty of Media & Communication
ID Code:38474
Deposited By: Symplectic RT2
Deposited On:05 Sep 2023 14:07
Last Modified:24 May 2024 08:18

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