A Study Of Micro-power In The Unconsoled

Kazuo Ishiguro’s works mainly include fiction,covering a wide range of subjects and styles,often exploring themes such as human emotion,memory and identity.The Unconsoled is a first-person narrative about a musician,Ryder,who travels to a European city for a recital,but as the story develops,he gradually descends into an absurd situation from which he cannot extricate himself.The writing style of The Unconsoled is bizarre and the concepts of time and space are disrupted,making it difficult for the reader to determine the boundaries between reality and fiction in the story,thus extending the ideological content to reflect on the individual’s situation.Michel Foucault is an important philosopher and social theorist who has made a unique contribution to the study of power.His theory of power emphasizes the small,hidden and pervasive presence of power in everyday life,and reveals how power functions in individual behaviour and social structures through the analysis of power relations,so we also call it micro-power.This theory breaks the traditional vertical conception of power and allows for a deeper understanding of how power operates in modern society and how it affects each individual.Based on this,Foucault’s theory of micro-power can be used to explore the characters’ encounters and choices in The Unconsoled in terms of the distribution of power relations and the impact of power.This article uses the critical method of textual close reading to study The Unconsoled in the context of Foucault’s micro-power theory,and discusses it on the basis of the distinction between traditional power and micro-power under Foucault’s micro-power theory.The thesis analyses family relations,workplace relations and social relations in The Unconsoled in terms of the essential properties of power,the flow of power between subjects and their resistance to power control.Through combing the micro-power system in the text,We find that the interplay between micro-power and individual choices is a close relationship between subject and object,and that the three distinctive features of power relations in The Unconsoled are duality,decentralization and resistance.The author draws the following conclusions: the essential characteristics and flow of micro-power can profoundly influence the personal encounters,psychological changes and ultimate choices of the characters,but the flow of micro-power does not rule in one direction,the subject has the ability to resist and make their own choices,the key is to clear the “fog” in a difficult situation and find one’s own direction in life,at the same time it also enlightens the readers to face their own living environment and struggle to break free from the shackles of power.It is an inspiration to readers to face up to their own circumstances and struggle to break free from the shackles of power.Foucault’s theory of micro-power provides a relevant and effective means of interpretation.Therefore,using Foucault’s theory of micro-power to analyse The Unconsoled can not only explain all the grotesque and bizarre aspects of the text and further understand the operation and profound role of micro-power in modern society,but also provide a deeper understanding of how micro-power works from a literary perspective.It is also possible to explore the humanistic concern that Kazuo Ishiguro wants to convey through the language of illusory dreams in the text,revealing the true value of individual existence in the omnipresent power relations,aiming to provoke readers to reflect on themselves and inspire them to strive to find the meaning of their own existence in society.