关键词: 《长日留痕》; 石黑一雄; 记忆; 历史重构; 诺贝尔文学奖; 叙事学

Abstract:

The Remains of the Day, the third novel by Kazuo Ishiguro, demonstrates simplicity, subtlety and elegance in its narration. Told from the perspective of the butler Stevens, the novel portrays his reminiscence and the events that occurred to him during the journey. Using techniques drawn from narratology and the close textual reading advocated by New Criticism, this paper argues that the personal memory of the protagonist has a retrospective and reconstructive importance on shaping and understanding both the present and the past. Stevens’ fragmented and misplaced recollections, as well as his unreliable narration, highlight the ways in which history has been filtered through the lens of memory. Meanwhile, the narrative chasm between the protagonist and other characters reveals to the reader the dialectical relationship between history and memory. In addition, Stevens’ meditative reflection on the past intertwines with events experienced at present on the road, which propel him to reach an epiphany regarding the tragic moments of the past, render him a better understanding of the tie between personal life and historical moments, and offer him a positive stance on the future when making way back home.

Keywords: The Remains of the Day; Kazuo Ishiguro; memory; history reconstruction; Nobel Prize in Literature; narratology