Interpretation Of The Remains Of The Day From The Perspective Of Postcolonial Ecocriticism

Kazuo Ishiguro’s masterpiece,The Remains of the Day,which wins the Book Prize in 1989 has been highly awarded.Since his appearance in British literature in the 1980 s,he has won several honors and awards for his excellent works,leaving on readers deep impression.As an immigrant writer,Ishiguro keeps a fair and calm attitude in The Remains of the Day,and presents,in the first-person narration,a butler image who lost himself in the extreme pursuit of his great career,and further explores a nostalgia of British society for its previous hegemonic status after World War II.In recent years,scholars have interpreted and analyzed the novel from perspectives of narratology,postcolonialism and traumatology.Meanwhile,from the contemporary trends and research paradigms of the 21 st century foreign literature,new paradigms such as ecological criticism and cross-ethnic criticism have been gradually derived.The collision and complementarity of varieties of research paradigms present a diversified research posture.As an interdisciplinary and compatible critical method,Postcolonial Ecocriticism has greatly expanded the research fields of literary texts by scholars at home and abroad.Therefore,from the perspective of Postcolonial Ecocriticism,this thesis attempts to analyze the embodiment of Stevens’ s connection with nature,society and spirit in the process of remolding himself,and to explore the enlightenment of this embodiment on maintaining sustainable development and ecological balance in the context of globalization.This thesis consists of five parts: Introduction,Literature Review,Theoretical Framework,the Body,and Conclusion.The first part is Introduction,including introduction to Kazuo Ishiguro,The Remains of the Day,and the purpose and feasibility,methodology of the study.Chapter One is the literature review both at home and abroad.The second chapter introduces the formation and development of Postcolonial Ecocriticism as well as some major terms.There are three chapters in the main body,in which the thesis is to be discussed from three dimensions: nature,society and spirit.The third chapter explores the natural dimension behind the postcolonial ecology.Through the colonial historical background implied in the text,this chapter analyzes the imbalance of binary opposition and the relationship between the oppressed animal image and colonialism,and people who are animalized under the influence of speciesism.Chapter Four reveals the fact that women are suppressed by racism and gender discrimination and that international discourse power changes with the rapid development of globalization through analyzing the social environment of Stevens and the international environment of Britain.In Chapter Five the dimension of personal spiritual ecology under the postcolonial ecology is discussed.Under the pressure of social culture,Stevens,while pursuing his distorted dignity,cuts off his emotional connection with his father and Miss Kenton,blindly obeys his master’s instructions,and finally becomes a spiritual slave.The last part is Conclusion of this paper.Through his journey to the western countryside,Stevens gradually opened his mind,and reexamined his relationship with nature,society and himself with peace and equality.In relieved attitudes,Stevens finally summoned the courage to recount the past and look into the future.Besides,it also pointed out the great significance of Postcolonial Ecocriticism for maintaining a harmonious balance between sustainable world development and ecological environment.Meanwhile,it provides us with critical enlightenment on how to get rid of the western discourse power and maintain the coexistence of the ecology and development in our country.