Journal of Literary Criticism

Journal of Literary Criticism

Exploring the Elements of Literary Modernism in An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro Based on the Peter Childs’ Patterns

Document Type : Original Article

Author
behzad pourgharib
Department of English Language and Literature, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran
Abstract
Since the year he won the Nobel Prize for Literature, the success of the novels by the Japanese-English writer Casio Ishiguro has been growing. In this regard, the present study, with an empirical and interpretive approach, aims to examine the validity of the elements of modernity in the novel of An Artist of the Floating World in terms of the portrayal of the modernity components in fictional elements based on the Peter Childs’ patterns. This novel focuses on family behavior symbolizing the traditional society in transition to modernity, exploring the components of modernity in concepts such as the desecration of values, the decline of the father's role as authority and manhood in the home, the possibility of controlling family girls, especially younger children. Their ideas depict individualism and loneliness, the dominance of western culture and the western way of life, and the tendency towards indigenous culture. At the end of the story, the narrator's hope for the youth and the next generation is ambiguous because on one hand he hopes for the future but on the other he challenges the onslaught of modernity. The aim of the study is to explain and analyze the impact of modernity on traditional society in the form of a family symbol based on Peter Childs’ patterns.
Keywords
Modernity
Narrative Analysis
Artist of the Floating World
Generation Conflict
Individualism
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Journal of Literary Criticism
Volume 5, Issue 9
March 2021
Pages 89-59

  • Receive Date 14 February 2020
  • Revise Date 18 May 2020
  • Accept Date 06 June 2020