CC BY
16Viktoria Minina
Minsk Linguistic University
The Poetics of Kazuo Ishiguro's A Pale View of the Hills
Статья повествует о проблемах поэтики романа Казуо Ишигуро "Бледный вид холмов". В ней анализируются особен-носи повествования и художественного мира романа.
The 1989 Booker Prize winner К. Ishiguro (b. 1954) is an outstanding British writer of Japanese origin. His poetics is a combination of both Western and Eastern traditions; this symbiosis is reflected in his peculiar style, the metaphoric nature of the titles, symbolism, narrative technique, which includes fragmentary plot structure, plot parallelism, associations, and understatement - all of them being the main components of his poetics. "A Pale View of Hills" (1982) is Ishiguro’s first novel in which he elaborated his unique style.
According to M. Bradbury, K. Ishiguro is "plainly writing in the Western tradition,"11 yet his style is marked by some Japanese influences. His language is extremely simple, precise, deprived of unnecessary embellishment. It does not abound in epithets and metaphors; however, it has its own charm and beauty.
Japanese literature is remarkable for its implicit character.12 "He все может быть высказано словами, и не обо всем обязательно говорить до конца. Достаточно упоминания, намека. Очарование недосказанности обладает впечатляющей силой".13 This very principle along with a restrained manner of writing is
11 Bradbury, M. The Modern English Novel. - L,1993. - P. 188.
12 Краткая литературная энциклопедия. - М., 1975, с.1103
13 Зарубежная литература XX века/ под ред. Н.П. Михальской и Л.В. Дудовой. - М., 1999, с. 376
characteristic of K. Ishiguro's style as well14. The author only hints at some event, action, feeling, and mood letting the reader drive at his or her own conclusions. Ishiguro is a master of understatement. This feature could be observed in the main character of the novel, Etsuko, who is shown in the period when she has to reevaluate all her life, to take up the responsibility for her former faults and to find enough strength to live on. K. Ishiguro is not by any means wordy while portraying Etsuko's inner sufferings - just some masterful brushes and the picture is complete. The reader guesses of Etsuko's pain and bitterness judging by some rare and scattered phrases or even merely by occasional words. Outwardly, Etsuko does not reveal her infinite and overwhelming anguish, but it is clearly and unambiguously felt in her lonely and secluded way of life, in her deserted house and in her desire to get closer to her younger daughter, Niki.
Moreover, Ishiguro never comments on anything, neither on the deeds of his characters nor on their motives, nor does he say anything about the impact of the latter on the further destiny of his characters. The reader has to reconstruct the complete picture of what is going on by himself, inventing sometimes the omitted episodes, reproducing the missing links and drawing parallels between events and certain characters (as for example, between the main characters Etsuko and Sachiko, and their respective daughters
- Keiko and Mariko).
All Ishiguro’s titles have an implicit nature. As for "A Pale View of Hills", it has a dual meaning: on the one hand, it stands for a mysterious world hidden behind the horizon, Britain, the world which had brought Etsuko nothing but solitude, regret, and repentance. First being pale and wan, alluring and tempting simultaneously, it appeared to be sorrowful and dreary for her. On the other hand, the title symbolizes Japan abandoned by the heroine
- in the course of time its image became for her as washed out and obscure as the one on a typical Japanese water-colour.
The novel abounds in symbols, the most vivid of which are the
14 Bradbury, M. The Modern English Novel. - L.,1993, p. 189
images of a garden and of kittens. A garden for Etsuko is a place where she seeks help and consolation. Throughout the novel, she is frequently portrayed looking at it. In Japanese literature nature sympathizes with a weary man, helps him to escape from the day-to-day problems and cares. As for the kittens, who were Mariko's best friends, they are symbols of tenderness, care, warmth and love
- the things her mother, Sachiko, often failed to give her. The fact that Sachiko drowned the kittens before their departure to America foreshadows her destruction of her daughter's happiness who as the reader guesses might not be happy abroad.
"A Pale View of Hills" is a combination of the present and the past. The novel is not a straight line narrative: the past constantly mingles with the present. The events from the past arise in Etsuko's mind in association with a seen object, a pronounced word, a familiar gesture, or even smell. To K. Ishiguro association is a key with the help of which he unlocks the door to the past of his characters.
Though some elements of Japanese literary tradition are felt in K. Ishiguro's novel, one should not overestimate their impact on his manner of writing. Primarily K. Ishiguro is a British writer brought up in the traditions of that country. Moreover, he is a bright individuality. We cannot but agree with M. Bradbury who said that his first three novels "could well seem to have the reticence from the tradition of the Japanese novel though they owe just as much to Ishiguro's own aesthetic invention."15 He is a talented and original writer whose manner of writing is easily recognizable. Each of his six novels has become a significant event in British literature.
15 Bradbury, M. The Modern English Novel. - L,1993. - P. 188.
