Abstract

Kazuo Ishiguro's novels are suffused with a sense of memory, nostalgia and mourning. Memory is an area of research that continues to grow in importance within the humanities and this unique study examines the importance of memory and its representation in Ishiguro's novels, filling a long standing gap in knowledge in studies of Ishiguro's work. Drawing from Paul Ricoeur's philosophical writing on memory, as well as theories on mourning, trauma and collective memory by Sigmund Freud, Henri Bergson, Maurice Halbwachs and Walter Benjamin, Yugin Teo introduces a conceptual framework that examines the function of memory in these novels, revealing the distinctive and cathartic work of memory that is very much a part of Ishiguro's novels. This innovative study explores how Ishiguro's writing both aligns itself with and challenges these established concepts of memory