Beyond the confines of realism: Seeking new metaphors for memory in Kazuo Ishiguro’s when we were orphans

Abstract

This article examines the interplay between realism and non-realism in Kazuo Ishiguro’s When We Were Orphans and argues that some of its departures from realism could be interpreted as illustrative of the workings of memory. The article opens with an outlining of Ishiguro’s earlier novels’ curious suspension in the middle ground between endorsing and challenging realism and with a brief discussion of their preoccupation with the work of remembering. What follows is an analysis of some of the most significant non-realist themes and motifs in When We Were Orphans, including the adoption of a naïve perspective of the first-person narrator, the relativity of time and space and the use of narrative coincidence. The delusion of the protagonist, his immersion in the past trauma as well as the ultimate disillusionment are shown as central to the construction of the novel’s key metaphor—that of an orphan. In conclusion, the novel’s problematisation of the workings of memory is discussed. Memory emerges from When We Were Orphans as an inherently unreliable mechanism prone to manipulation and fabulation and subject to the dictates of identity. Finally, the novel’s meticulously woven innovative blend of realism and surrealism, redolent of the bizarre realm of memory, is considered as a unique artistic achievement staking out new territory for literature.