Shaping Individual and Collective Identities: The Trace of Cultural Memory in Kazuo Ishiguro's A Pale View of Hills in the Realm of Jan Assmann Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 PhD Candidate in English Literature, Department of English Language and Literature, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

3 Assistant Professor, English Department, Sanandaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Sanandaj, Iran.

Abstract

Kazuo Ishiguro, a Japanese-British modern writer, explores human emotions, trauma, and love in his novels, with memory playing a central role in shaping characters' identities. This study, drawing on Jan Assmann's cultural memory theory, investigates the role of memory in shaping individual and collective identities in Kazuo Ishiguro's A Pale View of Hills. The study explores how personal and cultural memories influence characters' perceptions, beliefs, and interactions, shaping their sense of self and societal integration. It highlights how suppressed memories, unresolved traumas, shared historical memories, and societal narratives contribute to identity formation. Characters in the novel navigate trauma, loss, and identity construction amidst cultural memory and spatial dislocation. The experiences of characters like Etsuko and Sachiko illustrate the crucial role of memory in shaping individual and collective identities. Recollections of traumatic events and struggles with guilt and grief emphasize the enduring influence of memory on personal identity formation. The study reveals the intricate interplay between personal and collective memory as depicted through Etsuko's reflections on past tragedies and societal contexts in the novel. It emphasizes how individual recollections and shared historical traumas intertwine, shaping characters' perceptions of self and society. Ishiguro's exploration of memory, trauma, and identity construction showcases the profound impact of memories on both personal and collective identities. The findings highlight the enduring influence of memory in shaping individual and cultural identity, demonstrating how the past continues to shape the present and influence personal and shared cultural histories.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Akilan, G. "The Journey of Memory in Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View Of Hills." Language in India, vol. 20, no. 3, March 2020, www.languageinindia.com.
Assmann, Jan, and John Czaplicka. "Collective memory and cultural identity." New German Critique, no. 65, 1995, pp. 125-133.
Assmann, Jan. “Collective Memory and Cultural Identity.” New German Critique, vol. 65, no. 65, 1995, pp. 125–33, https://doi.org/10.2307/488538.
Assmann, Jan. "Communicative and cultural memory." Cultural Memories: The Geographical Point of View, Springer Netherlands, 2011, pp. 15-27.
Birke, Dorothee. Memory’s Fragile Power: Crises of Memory, Identity and Narrative in Contemporary British Novels, 2008.
Gaukler, Lydia. "Aspect of memory in Kazuo Ishiguro's 'A Pale View of Hills'."Munich, GRIN Verlag, 2006, https://www.grin.com/document/71528.
Gergen, Kenneth J. "Mind, text, and society: Self-memory in social context." The Remembering Self: Construction and Accuracy in the Self-narrative, 1994, pp. 78-104.
Halbwachs, Maurice. On Collective Memory. Translated by Lewis A. Coser, U of Chicago P, 1992.
Haorungbam, Tanushree, and Rajkumari Ashalata Devi. "Between Memory and Trauma: The Search for Self in Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills."IIS Univ. Journal of English Studies, vol. 12, no. 3&4, 2023, pp. 152-161.
Ishiguro, Kazuo. A Pale View of Hills. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2012.
Molino, Michael R. "Traumatic Memory and Narrative Isolation in Ishiguro's A Pale View of Hills." Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 53, no. 4, 2012, pp. 322-336.
Pachuau, Margaret L., and C. Lalrinfeli. "Situating Kazuo Ishiguro Within the Realms of Memory and Identity." Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, vol. 17, no. 1, 2023.
Piotrowski, Krystian. "Conflicted Memory, Irreversible Loss: Dissociative Projection in Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills and Yasunari Kawabata’s The Sound of the Mountain." American & British Studies Annual, vol. 9, 2016, pp. 26-43.
Johannes Unsok Ro, and Diana Edelman. Collective Memory and Collective Identity. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, 8 Mar. 2021.
Shaffer, Brian W. Understanding Kazuo Ishiguro. University of South Carolina Press, 2008.
Tanritanir, Bülent Cercis, and Fatma Karaman. "Searching Identity In; The Remains Of The Day And A Pale View Of Hills By Kazuo Ishiguro." Journal of International Social Research, vol. 11, no. 56, 2018, pp. 91-94.
Tilmans, Karin, et al. Performing the Past : Memory, History, and Identity in Modern Europe. Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press, 2010.
Teo, Yugin. Kazuo Ishiguro and Memory. Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.
Vyas, Sagar C., and Manisha F. Shah. "Identity Crisis in Kazuo Ishiguro’s ‘A Pale View of Hills’." ELT Voices, vol. 12, no. 2, 2023, pp. 43-50.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 22 June 2024
  • Revise Date: 14 October 2024
  • Accept Date: 07 December 2024

Share

How to cite

Statistics