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

摘要：

石黑一雄的第三部小说《长日留痕》展示了作家简朴、含蓄与典雅的叙事风格。透过管家史蒂文斯的视角,小说描绘了主人公在六天旅途中的所思所见。本文通过叙事学相关理论视角及新批评主义的文本细读,试图揭示主人公的个人记忆具有对历史与当下的反思和重构双重意义。在对过往的思索性追忆中,史蒂文斯的不可靠叙述和零散与错置的回忆片段揭示了记忆对历史的过滤,而主人公与他人的叙述冲突则呈现了历史与记忆的辩证关系。史蒂文斯的回忆又与旅途中遇见的人和事相互交织,途中的思考使主人公对过往人生中的悲剧时刻产生顿悟,对记忆中的个人往事和时代历史也有了新的理解,并以积极心态面对归家之途。

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