Thesis (M. Phil.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

The idea of witnessing through the lense of cultural trauma is one which has been described by Dominick LaCapra and others as a encompassing and far reaching from the private to the public spheres. In some cases, when trauma is so overwhelming, the response is to remain silent and do nothing to acknowledge acceptance of the causing factors of the cultural trauma. Novelists such as Kazuo Ishiguro employ various methods of discussing cultural trauma in their works. Ishiguro’s novels, Never Let Me Go and The Remains of the Day harbor narrators whose inner traumas reflect the trauma of the culture at large. The silent spaces in these novels arise in situations where the extreme measures taken by governing entities is also clearly stated, particularly in their discussions of the Holocaust and World War II.

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As produções artísticas do pintor Kazuo Wakabayshi podem ser divididas em duas etapas. A primeira é um conjunto de obras de tonalidade escura, de tom universal e sem qualquer indicação de sua origem étnica. A segunda fase, que se inicia por volta dos anos de 1980, consiste em obras de cores vibrantes, cujo detalhe apresenta elementos da cultura japonesa, tais como personagens do teatro kabuki, estampas da indumentária tradicional e outros elementos pertinentes àquela cultura. Apesar das notáveis diferenças entre as duas etapas, a elipse é a forma geométrica que sempre existiu na vida artística de Wakabayashi. O propósito da presente tese é trazer à tona o que está imerso nessas criações, primeiramente de natureza universal e, posteriormente, identitária. Acredito que a compreensão da arte desse artista imigrante poderá trazer respostas acerca da história de sua vida / The artistic productions of the painter Kazuo Wakabayashi, who spent his teenage years during the World War II can be divided in two stages. The first one is represented by the group of paintings in dark tones, which lacks any sign of ethnic origin, and which seeks to preserve a universal tone. The second stage, which begins in 1980s, consists of vibrant colours paintings, whose details are rich on Japanese culture elements, such as the Kabuki play characters, the patterns of traditional clothing, among other elements. Although there are striking differences between these two stages, the ellipsis is the geometric form which has never left his artistic life. The present thesis seeks to bring to the surface what is immersed in the depth of these productions in his first stage, which has an universal character and in the later one, after the acception of his ethnic identity. The understanding of his work will enable us to find answers on the personal life of this Japanese immigrant artist

As produções artísticas do pintor Kazuo Wakabayshi podem ser divididas em duas etapas. A primeira é um conjunto de obras de tonalidade escura, de tom universal e sem qualquer indicação de sua origem étnica. A segunda fase, que se inicia por volta dos anos de 1980, consiste em obras de cores vibrantes, cujo detalhe apresenta elementos da cultura japonesa, tais como personagens do teatro kabuki, estampas da indumentária tradicional e outros elementos pertinentes àquela cultura. Apesar das notáveis diferenças entre as duas etapas, a elipse é a forma geométrica que sempre existiu na vida artística de Wakabayashi. O propósito da presente tese é trazer à tona o que está imerso nessas criações, primeiramente de natureza universal e, posteriormente, identitária. Acredito que a compreensão da arte desse artista imigrante poderá trazer respostas acerca da história de sua vida / The artistic productions of the painter Kazuo Wakabayashi, who spent his teenage years during the World War II can be divided in two stages. The first one is represented by the group of paintings in dark tones, which lacks any sign of ethnic origin, and which seeks to preserve a universal tone. The second stage, which begins in 1980s, consists of vibrant colours paintings, whose details are rich on Japanese culture elements, such as the Kabuki play characters, the patterns of traditional clothing, among other elements. Although there are striking differences between these two stages, the ellipsis is the geometric form which has never left his artistic life. The present thesis seeks to bring to the surface what is immersed in the depth of these productions in his first stage, which has an universal character and in the later one, after the acception of his ethnic identity. The understanding of his work will enable us to find answers on the personal life of this Japanese immigrant artist

The focus of this essay is Kazuo Ishiguro’s Never Let Me Go. My central claim is that a theme of belonging underpins the novel and is recurrent in a number of different ways. In my reading, I utilise Jean Baudrillard’s postmodern critical concepts to produce this interpretation. I argue that the theme of belonging can be interpreted using Baudrillard’s loss of the real and hyperreal concepts. The usefulness of these concepts is primarily based on the element of clones and cloning in the narrative. Baudrillard’s theories deal with signs and images that do not correspond with the realities that they are meant to represent, mirroring the predicament of the Hailsham students in Never Let Me Go. My essay presents three main areas of discussion in relation to the theme of belonging. Firstly, Hailsham and the students are examined using the loss of the real/hyperreal concepts. The second area deals with belongings as a recurrent motif. In my reading, the dual meaning of the word belonging is an important factor in identifying the theme. This particular discussion deals also with ownership. The final area of discussion revolves around the issue of genre, or rather genres. The novel’s mixture of character drama and science-fiction dystopia is discussed in relation to the loss of the real/hyperreal. / Uppsatsens fokus är Kazuo Ishiguros Never Let Me Go. Min huvudtes är att det finns ett tema av tillhörighet som utmärker romanen. I min läsning applicerar jag Jean Baudrillards postmoderna kritiska begrepp i tolkningen av texten. I uppsatsen argumenterar jag att temat av tillhörighet kan tolkas med hjälp Baudrillards begrepp förlust av verkligheten samt hyperverkligheten. Användbarheten av dessa begrepp bygger på förekomsten av kloner och kloning i texten. Baudrillards teorier handlar om tecken och bilder som ej motsvarar verkligheten på ett tydligt sätt, och denna brist på korrespondens mellan verklighet och representation avspeglar Hailsham-elevernas situation i Never Let Me Go. Min uppsats har tre huvuddiskussioner i förhållande till temat tillhörighet. För det första, undersöks Hailsham och eleverna med med hjälp av begreppen förlust av verkligheten/hyperverkligheten. Andra diskussionsområden handlar om tillhörighet/er som återkommande tema. I min läsning, är det faktum att ordet tillhörighet har två definitioner en viktig aspekt när man ska identifiera temat. Denna diskussion handlar också om äganderätt. Den sista diskussionen handlar om romanens genre, eller genrer. Även romanens blandning av karaktärsdrama och science-fictiondystopi diskuteras i förhållande till Baudrillards begrepp förlust av verkligheten/hyperverkligheten.

Ohno Yoshito iniciou sua carreira com a obra Kinjiki (Cores proibidas), considerada a primeira performance de butoh, criada por Hijikata Tatsumi, em 1959, de quem se tornou discípulo durante a década de 1960. Posteriormente, tornou-se o principal parceiro de seu pai, Ohno Kazuo, com quem trabalhou por mais de três décadas. Da parceria com os fundadores do butoh surgiu o espetáculo Hana to Tori: mirai no watashi e no tegami (Flor e pássaro: uma carta para meu futuro eu), de 2013, primeira obra solo de Ohno Yoshito após a morte de Ohno Kazuo, em 2010. Assim, a presente pesquisa, ao traçar a trajetória de Ohno Yoshito junto ao desenvolvimento do butoh no Japão, traça um panorama dos anos iniciais que o levaram até a obra Kinjiki, assim como do período em que se estabeleceu o ankoku butoh (dança da escuridão) por Hijikata Tatsumi, fundamental na formação artística de Ohno Yoshito. Em seguida, debruça-se sobre a reconstrução de Admirando La Argentina, obra prima de seu pai, de 1977, refeita por Ohno Yoshito e parte de sua obra Hana To Tori. / Ohno Yoshito began his career with the work \"Kinjiki\" (Forbidden Colors), considered the first butoh performance, created by Hijikata Tatsumi in 1959, of whom he became a disciple during the 1960s. Subsequently, he became the main partner of his father, Ohno Kazuo, with whom he worked for more than three decades. From the partnership with the founders of butoh, the play \"Hana to Tori: mirai no watashi e no tegami\" (Flower and bird: a letter to my future self) of 2013, Ohno Yoshito\'s first solo work after the death of Ohno Kazuo, in 2010. Thus, the present research, tracing Ohno Yoshito\'s trajectory with the development of the butoh in Japan, gives an overview of the initial years that led to the work \"Kinjiki\", as well as the period in which the ankoku butoh (dance of darkness) by Hijikata Tatsumi, fundamental in the artistic training of Ohno Yoshito. He then looks at the reconstruction of \"Admirando La Argentina\", his father\'s masterpiece, 1977, remade by Ohno Yoshito and part of his work \"Hana to Tori\".

A presente dissertação busca oferecer uma leitura do romance Os Vestígios do Dia, de Kazuo Ishiguro, partindo do pressuposto de que o entendimento da obra requer um olhar sob quatro ângulos temporais: o presente da narrativa (1956, ano da Crise de Suez); a época em que se localiza cada fato narrado (em geral, o período entreguerras); uma espécie de passado mítico de uma Grande Inglaterra ao qual o narrador se referencia internamente; e o ano da recepção imediata da obra (1989, ano da queda do Muro de Berlim, embora o livro tenha sido publicado meses antes desse acontecimento). Segundo esta leitura, o romance consistiria em uma espécie de obra de fim de século que lançaria um olhar de estranhamento para o século XX a partir da perspectiva de um narrador que se vincula a valores anteriores a isso e de um leitor que avalia tanto esse narrador quanto seus oponentes de 1956 com o privilégio de uma distância temporal que criaria um efeito de ironia dramática. / This dissertation seeks to offer an interpretation of Kazuo Ishiguros novel The Remains of The Day based on the assumption that understanding the work requires viewing it from four temporal angles: the narrative present (1956, the year of the Suez Crisis); the time in which each narrated fact is located (the interwar period, in most cases); a sort of mythical past of a Great Britain to which the narrator refers inwardly; and the year of the immediate reception of the work (1989, the year of the fall of the Berlin Wall, though the book is published several months before the USSR falls apart). According to this reading, the novel would consist of a kind of fin-de-siècle work that throws a look of estrangement upon the twentieth century from the perspective of a narrator who is linked to values prior to this time and a reader who looks at both this narrator and his opponents in 1956 with the privilege of a temporal distance that end up creating an effect of dramatic irony.

A presente dissertação busca oferecer uma leitura do romance Os Vestígios do Dia, de Kazuo Ishiguro, partindo do pressuposto de que o entendimento da obra requer um olhar sob quatro ângulos temporais: o presente da narrativa (1956, ano da Crise de Suez); a época em que se localiza cada fato narrado (em geral, o período entreguerras); uma espécie de passado mítico de uma Grande Inglaterra ao qual o narrador se referencia internamente; e o ano da recepção imediata da obra (1989, ano da queda do Muro de Berlim, embora o livro tenha sido publicado meses antes desse acontecimento). Segundo esta leitura, o romance consistiria em uma espécie de obra de fim de século que lançaria um olhar de estranhamento para o século XX a partir da perspectiva de um narrador que se vincula a valores anteriores a isso e de um leitor que avalia tanto esse narrador quanto seus oponentes de 1956 com o privilégio de uma distância temporal que criaria um efeito de ironia dramática. / This dissertation seeks to offer an interpretation of Kazuo Ishiguros novel The Remains of The Day based on the assumption that understanding the work requires viewing it from four temporal angles: the narrative present (1956, the year of the Suez Crisis); the time in which each narrated fact is located (the interwar period, in most cases); a sort of mythical past of a Great Britain to which the narrator refers inwardly; and the year of the immediate reception of the work (1989, the year of the fall of the Berlin Wall, though the book is published several months before the USSR falls apart). According to this reading, the novel would consist of a kind of fin-de-siècle work that throws a look of estrangement upon the twentieth century from the perspective of a narrator who is linked to values prior to this time and a reader who looks at both this narrator and his opponents in 1956 with the privilege of a temporal distance that end up creating an effect of dramatic irony.

This thesis analyses the hegemonic processes that are maintained by traditions, institutions and formations by discussing over the process of value construction the characters in Kazuo Ishiguro&rsquo / s two novels are engaged in. A Marxist approach is used along the way and the discussions over the novels were taken as an opportunity of underlining the necessity of a Marxist approach towards art in order to make use of its propaedeutic value and extract the hegemonic substance the artwork inheres. This thesis seeks to use the propaedeutic value of Ishiguro&rsquo / s novels to point out to the hegemony that is prevailing over our actual lives. It argues that the person always has to relate himself to a society, and hence that society and &lsquo / the hegemonic&rsquo / forces operant on that society come to shape his values and judgements at the end. In the end, what this study finds are the traces of the hegemonic processes that are hidden behind the individualized experience of Ishiguro&rsquo / s characters. Neither Stevens, nor Kathy can be underestimated to their individual choices. It is the hegemony, and the tradition and the institutions of that hegemony that construct their existence. Also, it is found out that it is again the hegemony that shapes the existence of Ishiguro&rsquo / s value judgements and his works&rsquo / value schemes that are studied here.