Memory of Loss and Amnesia in When We Were Orphans and The Buried Giant

https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15811141

Abstract

In Kazuo Ishiguro's globally recognized and Nobel Laureate literary works, the influence of cultural memory is a prominent theme that shapes the identities of both individual characters and collective societies. Through a combination of Japanese, British, and global memories, Ishiguro's novels explore concepts such as alienation, identification, defamiliarization, and trauma, reflecting the enduring impact of past events on present experiences. In the present study, the structure of memories incorporated in Ishiguro’s novels are analyzed and categorized based on Jan Assmann’s theory of Cultural Memory which contends that all types of memory can re-appear through ceremonies, customs, and values shaped and reshaped in diachronic and synchronic frames. Ishiguro specifically bases his novels on memories of characters that are assumed to be created based on collective memories, a combination of individual, social and cultural memories.