Distorted Time and Chaotic Narrative in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.210609.033How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Surreality, Time and space, Kafkaesque experiment, Memory, Narrative, Dream-like text

Abstract

A feeling of surreality is what readers experience in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled. Ishiguro does noticeable experiments with time, space, and perception related to postmodernism. By Kafkaesque experiment, Ishiguro unfolds Ryder’s narrative about his four-day tour in an unspecified time and space. The inconsequentiality and the inconsistency which result from the temporal disorder and the non-linear narrative characterizes The Unconsoled as a postmodern novel. Besides the theme of memory, Ishiguro applies an illogical narrative to manage temporal dislocation and emotional estrangement in The Unconsoled. This article analyzes how Kazuo Ishiguro, by distorting temporal and spatial structures, creates a new narrative to present Ryder’s labyrinth-like life which makes the novel a dream-like text.

Copyright

© 2021, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Shu-Yuan Chang
AU  - Hsu-Hui Cheng
PY  - 2021
DA  - 2021/06/10
TI  - Distorted Time and Chaotic Narrative in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled
BT  - Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference on Language, Art and Cultural Exchange (ICLACE 2021)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 164
EP  - 167
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.210609.033
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.210609.033
ID  - Chang2021
ER  -