Negotiating Memories of Trauma in Kazuo Ishiguros A Pale View of Hills

Title

Negotiating Memories of Trauma in Kazuo Ishiguros A Pale View of Hills

Creator

Bhattacharya, Rima

Description

Kazuo Ishiguros debut novel A Pale View of Hills (1982) resembles other twentieth-century novels in emerging out of what Anne Whitehead calls the three interrelated contexts of postmodernism, postcolonialism and a postwar legacy, which allows authors to set family stories in a broader, universal, and historical context (Whitehead 81). In the novel, Etsuko, a survivor of the Nagasaki bombing, recalls her traumatic experience of migrating to England following the fatal bombing on August 9, 1945. The novel focuses on the feelings of guilt and trauma associated with Etsukos escape from a difficult life in post-World War II Nagasaki to a more comfortable life in Britain to avoid raising her child in the aftermath of the atomic destruction. The public trauma and shock of the nuclear attack on Nagasaki form the backdrop for Etsukos personal narrative. Although the bomb does not injure the characters in the novel, the aftermath of this catastrophic event affects their lives profoundly. Kazuo Ishiguros A Pale View of Hills is a memory narrative of Etsuko, the protagonist, in conversations with her younger daughter Niki in England. The novel shows Etsuko recalling her past life in Japan in a desperate attempt to come to terms with her older daughter Keikos suicide. Her meditations take her back to her past in Japan, where she had developed a short friendship with Sachiko and her disturbed daughter Mariko. Etsukos dubious narration that exposes several parallels between her life and her friend Sachikos life indicates the possibility of Etsuko and Sachiko being the same person. The chapter discusses how the novels narrative strategies act as a coping mechanism for the displaced Etsuko, who endures the traumatic experience of migration. Etsukos indeterminate and ambiguous narration reflects the complexity and elusiveness of the act of migration, which disrupts her sense of identity and leaves her torn between her past and present self. The chapter shows how Etsukos confessions of her failing memory paradoxically make her seem more reliable. The chapter also discusses how Ishiguros novel, through Etsukos recollection of traumatic memories, calls attention to the emotional and psychological ramifications underlying the process of migration that not only makes migrants doubtful about their initial decision to migrate but also forces them to re-evaluate that decision constantly. Engaging with trauma and memory studies theorists such as Dominick LaCapra, Cathy Caruth, Maurice Halbwachs, Astrid Erll, Birgit Neumann, and Ansgar Nning, the chapter depicts how Etsukos discontinuous narrative, which permits her to redirect her trauma of Kiekos suicide to a self-constructed story, has a therapeutic impact on her psyche. Finally, the chapter argues that though the novel centers around an incident of historical significance, its modernity lies in its depiction of the trials of a life in exile and the psychological complexity induced by the act of abandoning ones homeland and starting a new life elsewhere. 2025 selection and editorial matter, Srirupa Chatterjee and Sharada Chigurupati; individual chapters, the contributors.

Source

Global Literatures and Cultures of Modernity: Critical Perspectives from India;pp.150-163

Date

01-01-2025

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Coverage

Bhattacharya R., Department of English and Cultural Studies, CHRIST University (Yeshwanthpur campus), Bengaluru, India

Rights

Restricted Access; Hardcopy may be available in the library

Relation

ISBN: 978-104035247-2; 978-103263548-4;

Format

online

Language

English

Type

Book chapter

Identifier

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781032635507-17

https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105002206600?origin=resultslist