No Homelike Place: The Lesson of History in Kazuo Ishiguro's An Artist of the Floating World.

Artist of the Floating World, An (Book : Ishiguro); History in literature; 20th century fiction; Literary criticism; 20th century Japanese history; Ishiguro, Kazuo, 1954-; Literature & history

An essay is presented that attempts to understand the concept of the historical angel's gaze as it operates in the novel "An Artist of the Floating World" by Kazuo Ishiguro. The novel, set in postwar Japan, is said to examine how history is repressed, hidden, manipulated, normalized or distorted. Topics covered include the principal character Masuji Ono's feeling of shame over his participation in Japan's anti-Western imperialist movement, and an analysis of the novel's narrative style.