Repeated Reading for Critical Novel Study

• The document outlines holiday work in preparation for Module B – Critical Study of Literature, prioritizing reading the novel twice.
• It includes a dot point outline of the novel's events to help identify shifts in time period.
• It includes a detailed summary and a full character list to aid understanding.
• Tasks are available on a specified VO homepage.

Kazuo Ishiguro Task

• Task 1 focuses on the author Kazuo Ishiguro.
• Students are required to research and make notes on the following topics:
• Key points about Ishiguro's biography.
• The influence of Ishiguro's cultural heritage on his novel.
• The influence of key events/issues in Japan's modern history on Ishiguro's writing.
• Links to resources are:
  • Nobel Prize biographical information.
  • Famous Authors page.
  • Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro.

British Context Task

• Task 2 refers to the British context of the Author - British Context - Thatcherism
• It requires students to read an article which is Kazuo Ishiguro: Thatcher's London and the role of the artist in a time of political change
• Students are required to complete a 3-2-1 Reading Routine after reading.

Floating World Task

• Task 3 focuses on the Floating World.
• 'Ukiyo-e' refers to a style of Japanese woodblock print and painting from the Edo period (1603-1867).
• It depicted famous theater actors, beautiful courtesans, city life, travel in romantic landscapes, and erotic scenes
• The Floating World describes the sensory pleasures of urban life in Edo (modern day Tokyo) and offers a bittersweet reminder of its fleeting nature.
• It describes the pleasure districts of Edo
• Key resources are:
• Artsy.net.
• Google Arts & Culture.
• Students should consider the questions below based on research:
• How did Ukiyo art come into being?
• How is Ukiyo art created?
• What is the purpose of the Ukiyo style of art?

Investigating the Context of An Artist of the Floating World

• Examining the world that influenced Kazuo Ishiguro is essential for understanding his work.
• Differentiating between context and setting is a key consideration
• The context of composition refers to the social, historical, political, and personal circumstances that shaped Ishiguro's writing in 1986.
• The historical and cultural setting is post-World War II Japan, from October 1948 to June 1950.
• Ishiguro's use of anachronisms (references to events before the Meiji Restoration (1868)) complements the themes of time fluidity and memory unreliability.
• Ishiguro's writing, shaped by the 1980s, aligns with Postcolonial literature, exploring identity resulting from colonization and occupation.
• Ishiguro uses the US Occupation of Japan to examine changing Japanese national identity.
• The 1980s had tension between progressive and conservative politics and a changing British national identity due to the decline of the British Empire.
• Margaret Thatcher's prime ministership (1979-1990) featured economic recession, high unemployment, and clashes between the Conservative government and opposition.
• Britain fought Argentina over the Falkland Islands and faced internal threats from the Irish Republican Army.
• An Artist of the Floating World concerns the notion that art used politically can be problematic.
• There exist parallels between the composition's socio-political context and the historical setting Ishiguro selects for the novel.
• Japan ended isolation and became an empire in 1868, concerned with nationalism and imperialism.
• Japan's militarism during World War II led to national shame and the US intervention.
• Personal context involves the composer's and responder's background experiences.
• Self-reflection involves thinking about one’s motives/actions. Modernisation is the shift from 'pre-modern' to ’modern' society.
• Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, on November 8, 1954
• Ishiguro's family moved to Guildford, Surrey, Great Britain in 1960.
• His migration to Great Britain marked a key turning point in his life, severing ties with his grandfather.
• After taking a permanent position in Great Britain, his Japan return hopes were dashed.
• Ishiguro's beloved grandfather died during their early years in Great Britain. This had a significant emotional impact on him, which filtered through his writing.
• From 1960-6, Ishiguro attends Stoughton Primary School and from 1966-73, World King County Grammar School. in 1974 he began his studies in English and Philosophy at the University of Canterbury, graduating in 1979.
• In 1974 he begins his studies in English and Philosophy at the University of Canterbury, graduating in 1978.
• In 1975, he takes a year off and begins dabbling in fiction writing, in 1976.
• Ishiguro's social work shaped his appreciation for human suffering
• Despite Ono’s self-absorption, his desire for solace resonates
• Ono's disillusionment and search for comfort are significant.

Ishiguro's biography

• Wong notes Ishiguro's sensitivity reminds that literature is 'an aesthetic form for understanding life' (Wong, 2000, p. 6)
• Wong indicates that Ishiguro expresses 'homesickness' or the urge to be at home everywhere”.
• He is thus a 'kind of writer of exile'
• Ishiguro insists his novels are fictional, drawing ideas from Japan, not writing historical facts or capitalizing on an exotic status

Literary and personal influences

• The emotional and mental formations of Ishiguro's characters comes directly from his personal experience. His English education at primary, secondary and tertiary level impacted on the influence of his work. He has cited writers such as Anton Chekhov, Fydor Dostoevsky and Franz Kafka as influencing his style and ideas. (Allan Vorda and Kim Herzinger, 1991)
• Similarly, he is influenced by Latin writers such as Gariel Garcia Marquez and Mario Vargas Llosa, exiled writers, Milan Kunera (Czech), Samuel Beckett (Irish) and Henry James (American). In 1979, Ishiguro met Angela Carter at the University of East Anglia. She subsequently became his mentor. Angela Carter is a well-known feminist writer, known for her creative critique on fairytales. Robert McCrum, editor at Faber, is one of the first to recognise Ishiguro's talent.

Ishiguro's status as an international writer

• Ishiguro recognizes the particularly Japanese focus his writing strikes with readers, though the source of his writing stems from universal and humanist writing.
• His first novel's success is accredited to his Japanese heritage and his writing about universal issues.
• He fought against being known as an exotic author. He speaks and writes primarily in English.

The representation of Japan in AFW

• Shibeta and Sugano (2009, pp.26-27) argue in 'Strange Reads: Kazuo Ishiguro's A Pale View of Hills and AFW in Japan', that AFW wasn't widely accepted domestically when translated to Japanese because of problematic representations of war and militarism in Japan in the 30s - 40s.
• Foreign novels tend not to translate well. Many Japanese readers found Ishiguro’s writing “strange” and unfamiliar, defined by gaps and silence.
• Ishiguro worked Tobita to relieve some of the problems with the culture, though more issues emerged. The literal Japanese representation, Ukiyo no Gaka, suggests ambiguity.
• As the 'floating world' is mythical, this evokes exoticism removed from Japanese experience. The Japanese title is more about an artist tormented by the world.

Critics of An Artist of a Floating World

• Miura’s ambiguity concerns artist responsibility in the war progression. Fine art genre does not relate to Japanese practice.
• It is not very significant as a central novel focus.

Cold War context

• This is a memory text that references previous times when Ono developed into an artist and provides a sense of his character.
• Brainstorm Japan’s role in World Wars One and Two and the Cold War.
• World War I was a conflict (1914 and 1918) between nations of Europe, including Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Turkey against France, Great Britain, Russia, Italy, and Japan. 17 million soldiers and civilians died.

World War II

• This was a conflict (1939-45) between Germany, Italy, and Japan against France, Great Britain, the United States, Australia, the Soviet Union, etc. It ended with the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• Ishiguro explores Ono’s misguided desire to improve the lives of the people in his district.
• The power gained through industrialization and resulting lack of access to resources led to increasing power.
• Shift from agricultural to industrial obviously had social impact which can be seen through between the 'old order' represented by Ono, and the ‘new order' represented by the younger.
• Characters of Ono's generation, Dr Saito, espouse democracy.

Cold War key terms

• Cold War concepts, such as capitalism, communism, democracy, and imperialism, are subtly referred to.
• Capitalism: industry mostly or entirely privately owned and operated for profit
• Communism: each societies works for communal benefit i so that, in theory, all property is held in common with each person contributing and receiving according to their ability and needs
• Democracy: a system of government by the whole population
• Imperialism: extending a country's power and influence via colonisation. Defining the Cold War
• The Cold War was a state of political and military tension after World War Two between the United States and its allies (Western Bloc) and the Soviet Union and its allies (Eastern Bloc). There was major fear based on communists.

Connecting the Cold War to Japan

• Japanese nationalism the rise of militarism in Imperial Japan. Around 3 million Japanese died in the war and Japan lay in ruins, devastated by the persistent and strategic US bombing campaign that culminated inthe atomic attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
• Japan was occupied by American forces, stripped of their old empire and democracy was forced.

Cold War anxiety

• Japan was in a climate of Cold War anxiety, although the anxiety experienced in Japan in the Post-WWII period was different from that of Eastern / Western Europe. TheAmerican Occupation imposed an authoritarian regime.
• The cold war and the anxiety it caused is defined by the following:
  • Atmosphere and culture of fear, hatred, conformity and intolerance
  • A culture of anti- communist hysteria prevailed.
  • UnAmerican committees were set up by the US Congress.

How cold war anxiety is represented in An Artist of a Floating World

• This emphasis highlights importance of the concept of the floating world. Ishiguro explores the shift to the way the war has impacted the climate.
• Constant struggle to find a home after the war. The book brings the reader a sense of disillusionment and blame.
• Japan reinvented as an economic. It examines individual rejection.
• The Nagasaki results in fragmented lives.
• There is rejection by past.
• The lost of this state meant a loss of its own nation.

Context Resources to Read

• Japanese Art Open Database
• Khan Academy: the Floating world
• York Art Gallery: Pictures of the Floating World

Novel plot and time jumps

• The novel Part 1 is October 1948 and includes information on:
• The house,
• The daughter as well as The Pleasure District and the ruins
• The novel Part 2 is April 1949 and includes information on:
• Kuroda not present
• The novel 3 is November 1949 and includes information on:
  • Sugimura's plans
• The novel 4 is June 1950 and includes information on:
  • No Regrets

Part One

• ono talks of arriving on a bridge. Vivid description is given to ones house. He was not rich yet prestigious.
• talks of wanting to return to Japan. Visits the city and sees his grandkids along with in depth looks at the pleasure district and the damage being attributed.

Part Two

• Ono and Sestsuo visit a bar and talk about the relationship issues which they find
• They see new construction outside
• Also talks to Mrs. Kawakami and sees some destruction nearby.

Part Three

• Has Moriyamias style, Talks of visiting the park with Setsuko. He digresses to remember Mori-san.

Part Four

• Matsuda is dead,
• ono has not been there because of Noriko.
• Reflecting what he should feel from what he heard

Character List

• The different character in the book included a master, a doctor and many of Ono's family. Notable character below:
• Masuji Ono: the artist, famous for propaganda posters
• Setsuko: Ono's elder daughter
• Kuroda: Ono's most gifted student the he betrays
• Dr Saito: prospective father-in-law to Noriko
• Ichiro: Ono's grandson
• Mrs Kawakami: the owner if the bar in the pleasure district