A Brief Analysis of A Pale View of Hills from the Perspective of Postcolonialism_英语论文

摘要

石黑一雄，生于日本长崎，是一名日裔英国小说家，于2017年获得诺贝尔文学奖。《远山淡影》是石黑一雄的处女作，一经出版，便获得世人的注意和赞赏。这本书讲述了女主人公及其家人、朋友等在二战后的生活状况。尽管战争已经结束了，但是殖民的阴影依然笼罩着日本，影响着每一个日本人的生活。

本论文拟从后殖民主义视角分析作品中不同人物的遭遇，其中包括一位母亲、一位老教师以及一个年轻知识分子的生活，从而揭示战争给日本普通人带来的生活巨变。有些人，渴望远离日本，前往美国，欧洲，逃离战争的伤痛，渴望新的生活。无论战前战后，美国对日本的政治，经济，文化，教育等方面都造成了巨大的影响。日本战败后，日本人对美国怀着复杂的情感，既恨又怕，甚至对美国的强大和胜利有些崇拜。由于战争的失败和来自美国文化的巨大影响，日本人无可避免地遭受心灵的扭曲，创伤和自卑。一些人想要远离日本，一些人在日本的巨变中感到迷茫，在与年轻人的冲突中，使得年迈的一代人感受到焦虑和挣扎。这篇文章致力于揭露后殖民文化如何影响日本人的生活，揭示日本人的认同危机和代际冲突。

关键词：后殖民 创伤 认同危机 文化认同 代际冲突

Abstract

Kazuo Ishiguro, a Britain writer, born in Nagasaki, won the Nobel Prize in literature in 2017. A Pale View of Hills was his first novel, after published, immediately caught the attention and appreciation of the world. The book tells a story about life of a woman, her family and her friends after the bomb in Nagasaki. Although the war had ended, the shadow of the colonialism still existed in Japan, influencing every Japanese’s life.

Therefore, the article analyzes the lives of different people, such as a mother, an old teacher and a young politician, who have shown the change of post-war life.  People dream of leaving for America or Europe, escaping from the hurt of the war and are eager to have a new life. Both before and after the war, America exerted huge influence on Japan in politics, economy, culture, education and etc. After being defeated, Japanese people bore complicated feelings toward America: hatred, fear, and even some kind of adoration for their victory and strength. Living under failure and strong cultural influence from America, Japanese people have unavoidably suffered from distortion of the mind and alienation, which were shown in the form of trauma and self-abasement. Thus, some wanted to escape, some felt lost in the huge change of Japan, and the conflicts with the young made some elder people worried and struggled. This thesis makes an effort to reveal how postcolonial culture influenced Japanese people’s life, showing their identity crisis and even the conflicts between generations.

Key words: postcolonialism  trauma  identity crisis  generation conflict 

Contents

Chapter One  Introduction 1

1.1  A Brief Introduction to Kazou Ishiguro 1

1.2  A Brief Introduction to A Pale View of Hills 1

1.3  Purpose of the Thesis 3

1.4  Structure of the Thesis 3

Chapter Two  Literature Review 5

2.1  Previous Studies on A Pale View of Hills 5

2.1.1 Previous Studies on A Pale View of Hills Abroad 5

2.1.2 Previous Studies on A Pale View of Hills at Home 6

2.2  Summary 7

Chapter Three  Theoretical Framework 8

3.1  The Definition of Postcolonialism 8

3.2  The Development of Postcolonialism 10

Chapter Four  Analysis of A Pale View of Hills 13

4.1  Postcolonialism in A Pale View of Hills.13

4.2  Postcolonial Environment Analysis--the Destruction and Restoration.13

4.3  Female Character Analysis in Light of Postcolonial Perspective.14

4.3.1 Sachiko - Identity Crisis of Postcolonial Feature14

4.3.2 Mrs Fjiwara- Recovering from Postcolonial Trauma.15

4.3.3 Mariko -Died in the Shadow of Postcolonial Influence16

4.4  Analysis of Conflicts from Postcolonial Perspective16

4.4.1 Ogata-San Father and His Students 18

4.4.2 Jiro and His Father 19

4.4.3 Shigeo Matsuda and the Elder Generation 20

Chapter Five  Conclusion 20

Bibliography

Acknowledgements