Looking at the Changing World through a Displaced and Estranged Artist: Kazuo Ishiguros, an Artist of the Floating World

Abstract

Culture is a shared pattern of behaviour prevailing in a group or a society. It includes all the traditions, customs, beliefs and values that are transmitted from generation to generation and it can shape people. Thus it can be summarized that culture is something commonly shared, transmitted and it has a role in shaping people. When another culture tries to penetrate into the existing culture, some problems arise among people living in that society. Postcolonial literature deals with such problems as estrangement, displacement, identity crisis, etc. Kazuo Ishiguro is one of the examples of the writers of postcolonial literature and he studies on the aforementioned themes in his books. An Artist of the Floating World is one of them. The aim of this article is to analyse displacement and estrangement problems that the main character, Masuji Ono, faces because of the influence of another culture in Japan after World War II. There are many changes in society ranging from the traditional values to traditional art and they cause Ono to feel disturbed. Prior to discussion, an introduction and brief information about the historical background of the novel will be given. Key words: Kazuo Ishiguro, postcolonial literature, culture, displacement, estrangement.