A special guest lecture by Dr Yugin Teo, University of Sussex
Tuesday 9 December 2014
6-7:20pm
G15, Malet Street Building, Birkbeck, University of London
Kazuo Ishiguro has been preoccupied with the theme of memory since his first novel. How we remember and what we choose to remember have frequently been key considerations in his oeuvre. In an interview upon the publication of When We Were Orphans, Ishigruo stated that nostalgia, in its purest form, 'is to the emotions what idealism is to the intellect', that it is a way of 'longing for a better world'. Unlike many writers and critics who tend to view nostalgia as a negative trait, Ishiguro chooses to view it positively, utilising nostalgia (along with memory) as a key element in his work that is evident in his novels and short fiction.
Paul Ricoeur was a key figure in twentieth century continental philosophy who maintained a strong interest in the field of literature. He had been preoccupied with the themes of memory, forgetting and recognition toward the end of his life, particularly in the different ways in which we remember and forget key events, how we recognise different versions of ourselves, and how as social beings we receive mutual recognition from within a community. Utilising various aspects of Ricoeur’s theories, along with work by Freud, this presentation examines the themes of memory, nostalgia and recognition across a selection of Ishiguro’s writing, demonstrating the uniquely profound and elegiac nature of his work. The research in this presentation is part of the framework of the work of memory from Yugin Teo's recently published book Kazuo Ishiguro and Memory (Palgrave).
Images by Yugin Teo.
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