Memory And Narrative Unreliability In A Pale View Of Hills

The famous Japanese-English writer Kazuo Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki,Japan in 1954.He has won the "Bucker Award" which enjoys high reputation in English literature.Its style is known for exquisite elegance.Almost his every novel has been nominated or awarded.His works have been translated into 28 languages.Kazuo Ishiguro has many famous magnum opuses,like "A Pale View of Hills"(which is also translated as "Lights in the Mountains"),"An artist of the floating World" and "The Remains of the Day".A Pale View of Hills is Kazuo Ishiguro's first work,which has won great attention and love from readers since it was published.The novel shapes an incompetent mother's image successfully through Etsuko's memory and contradictory conflicts between characters.The incompetent mother's image makes readers feel the novel's unique aesthetic connotation and artistic charm.Etsuko is the most important narrator and character in A Pale View of Hills,the content of the novel is revealed through Etsuko's memory.However,Etsuko's memories are sometimes clear and sometimes vague.Very often,some information is not clear enough to understand,and it is easy to create an unreliable feeling.This kind of narration is very unique and has great research value.Based on the close reading of the text and the use of narratological theory,this article is meant to analyze how unreliable narration method is presented in A Pale View of Hills and then tap the inner world of the characters in order to account for the significance and value of this narrative strategy.This paper consists of four parts:The introduction explains the reason and basis of the topic selection,summarizes the research status of Kazuo Ishiguro at home and abroad,and outlines his literary career throughout his life.In addition,the research objects and research methods of this article are introduced.The first chapter briefly describes the representative of the unreliable narration and the origin of the theory.The characteristics of Kazuo Ishiguro's works and the connection between such features and unreliable narrative theories are introduced.The second chapter discusses the specific presentation of the unreliable narrative theory in the works A Pale View of Hills.It mainly analyzes the text from three aspects below: low-key narration,incomplete information and self-differentiation.The third chapter discusses the theme of memory in A Pale View of Hills.Firstly,making a brief introduction about the concept of memory,analyzing how memory exists,and analyzing the meaning and value of memory.Secondly,after analyzing the Landscapes in A Pale View of Hills,and then outlining the specific presentation of the memory theme in the work.In the end,discussing the uniqueness of memory in A Pale View of Hills,which reveals the the meaning and value of unreliable narration.