Assignment Paper :-107 ( Twentieth Century Literature: From World War II to the End of the Century )
Name :- Aarti Bhupatbhai Sarvaiya
Batch :- M.A. Sem. 2 (2022-2024)
Enrollment N/o. :- 4069206420220027
Roll N/o. :- 01
Subject Code & Paper N/o. :- 22400 Paper 107: The Twentieth Century Literature: From World War II to the End of the Century
Email Address :- aartisarvaiya7010@gmail.com
Submitted to :- Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English – Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University – Bhavnagar – 364001
Date of Submission :- 31 March, 2023
Memory in the novel An Artist of the Floating World
Introduction :-
'An Artist of the Floating World' is a novel written by Kazuo Ishiguro. This is a story of an artist Masuji Ono, who was once very famous for his paintings but as time passes his paintings become worst for the society and he is shown as a respectable person,and he is criticised by the society because of his paintings. The memory of Masuji Ono is described in this novel.
About the Author :-
Kazuo Ishiguro, in full Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, (born November 8, 1954, Nagasaki, Japan), Japanese-born British novelist known for his lyrical tales of regret fused with subtle optimism. In 2017 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his works that “uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.”
In 1960 Ishiguro’s family immigrated to Great Britain, where he attended the universities of Kent (B.A., 1978) and East Anglia (M.A., 1980). Upon graduation he worked at a homeless charity and began to write in his spare time. He initially gained literary notice when he contributed three short stories to the anthology Introduction 7: Stories by New Writers (1981).
Awards And Honors: Nobel Prize (2017) Booker Prize (1989) Costa Book Awards (1986)
Notable Works: “A Pale View of Hills” “An Artist of the Floating World” “Klara and the Sun” “Never Let Me Go” “Nocturnes: Five Stories of Music and Nightfall” “The Remains of the Day” “The Saddest Music in the World” “The Buried Giant” “The Unconsoled” “The White Countess” “When We Were Orphans”
About The Novel :-
Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel An Artist of the Floating World grapples with the themes of memory, regret, and the quest for redemption against the backdrop of post-World War II Japan. Masuji Ono, an ageing painter who reflects on his life as an artist and a prominent member of society in pre-war Japan, is the protagonist of the novel.
This historical fiction begins with the sight of Ono living in obscurity in the postwar period, reflecting on his prewar life as an artist and member of the upper class in Japan. Ishiguro expertly employs Ono’s recollections to create a vivid picture of pre-war Japan’s “floating world,” a world of artistic and social excess that ultimately led to the country’s demise.
Ishiguro’s writing is evocative and lyrical, and he stitches poetic language with beautiful imagery to drive home the stolid yet sombre mood of the novel. The novel exudes rich symbolism, with the “floating world” representing the languidly fleeting nature of life and the pre-war era.
'Memory' in The Novel :-
Memory in An Artist of the Floating World has focused on the diverse narrative techniques that this novel encompasses, to show that memory serves as a medium for the narrator to understand his past in order to assimilate into the present. However, little attention has been paid to the different settings that the narrator constantly reiterates and describes in his memoir.
An Artist of the Floating World is the second novel of the Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel deals with the role of memory in a post-Second World War Japan, and the narrative voice is Masuji Ono, an old painter who was part of militarist organisations before the war. Ono’s conflict arises as he remains attached to the pre-war values of imperialism and nationalism while the new generation looks forward to imitating Western democracies. The novel is constructed as a memoir that shows Ono’s strive between the changing environment of the present and the old days to which he repeatedly digresses. In fact, the novel follows a chronological structure —from October 1948 until June 1950—, nevertheless the narrative is cyclical because the narrator constantly refers to the past.
Memory is understood as “the process or faculty whereby events or impressions from the past are recollected and preserved. [And] collective memory [involves] widely shared perceptions of the past. It shapes the story that groups of people tell about themselves, linking past, present and future in a simplified narrative”. Scholars have argued that memory in An Artist of the Floating World provides the narrator with a better understanding of his own past, and that individual memory is influenced by the collective one because the changing attitudes makes the major character rethink his own past.
However, a much less discussed issue seems to be the significance of the different places in the novel in the context of individual and collective memory. Places are focused on memories, and as such, “the analysis of how memory and forgetting pervade real public space, the world of objects, and the urban world we live in becomes crucial”.
"As far as I am concerned, I freely admit I made many mistakes. I accept that much of what I did was ultimately harmful to our nation, that mine was part of an influence that resulted in untold suffering for our own people. I admit this."
Museji Ono
Masuji Ono, a narrator and the protagonist of the novel, believes that there is no artist who can accurately capture their own likeness in a self-portrait, and neither can a writer impartially recall the past. The novel revolves around Ono's life, told by himself, but he retells his story imperfectly. He repeatedly concedes that the conversations he recounts may have not gone exactly as he recalls. There are even direct contradictions to his account of events. A pivotal moment in the novel is Setsuko's, Ono's daughter , admonishing him to take precautions about his past. This prompts Ono to visit Matsuda and Kuroda, yet later Setsuko claims she has no memory of saying that to her father. Readers are left to wonder if Ono has misremembered events, seeking to mitigate the damage of his past out of his own anxiety or guilt, or if Setsuko doesn't remember or is being deceptive for some reason. In either case the events of the novel are indefinite, involving many long-past conversations, characters, and places, all altered with the passage of time.
The author also uses the structure and diction of the novel to convey the theme of memory. The nonlinear pattern of the plot—jumping around chronologically from Ono's present to youth to glory days to present again—is similar to stream-of-consciousness writing. However, the author deliberately uses this nonchronological plot to mimic not only thought patterns but also an elderly mind. Ono finds himself in rooms without knowing why he entered them and stares off into space, a habit his younger daughter interprets as laziness but is more likely a common symptom of old age.
As he enters the final stages of life, Ono's memories occupy his thoughts more and more, and they are colored by his need to justify his actions to himself. The suggestion of self-delusion or self-deception appears early in the novel. Ono admits that conversations he recalls may not have happened as he recalls them. He thinks he said a particular thing but admits he may not have. He also makes excuses for various people, trying to explain to the reader why Mori-san was so haughty while others were not, portraying Noriko as unjustifiably irritated and rude to him. Perhaps the strongest evidence for self-deception, though, is what is not included in Ono's thoughts. He says almost nothing about the deaths of his wife and son. They are mentioned but without much emotion and almost no detail. Ono seems to repress his most painful memories while allowing lesser traumas to resurface over the course of the novel.
Memory and nostalgia often go hand in hand, and the novel is suffused with wistful recollections of life in Japan before the war, of Ono's best years as an artist. Nostalgia paints the past with a rosy hue and glosses over difficulties. For example, Ono recalls giving Kenji,Ono's Son)his first taste of sake, Japanese rice wine, but not the moment he learned his only son had been killed in the war. He remembers how his wife always laughed about their disagreements but can't recall the substance of their fights. The most nostalgic memory that occupies Ono's thoughts is that of the pleasure district before the war. He fondly recalls so many nights at the Migi-Hidari drinking with his students or at Mrs. Kawakami's in the lantern light. This vanished world holds incredible nostalgia for the artist.
Conclusion :-
To Conclude, the novel is based on the concept of an artist's life and his problems which he/she can face as an artist. This novel is based on the theme of , What is the importance of art and artists in society. In this novel also the suffering of an artist is described through his past and present experience.
Word Count:- 1550
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