Implications of Narrative Unreliability in Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day

Abstract

The objective of this study is to analyse the predominating narrative unreliability in Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day (1989) within the framework of rhetorical narratology with a specific focus upon the notion of subjectivity. The homodiegetic narrator, the ageing butler Stevens, is far from fitting unproblematically into the definition of unreliable narrator. The exploration of the employment of narrative unreliability in the novel must, therefore, be aligned with central themes like the national identity and Englishness precisely because it is through Stevens's narration that these grand narratives can be revealed as fiction. What is at issue in the novel is also the very act of narration itself, which is problematized as evasive, nonauthoritative, repressed, and obfuscating. Stevens's narration is profoundly retrospective, looking backwards not only to retrieve the past memories of 'great' days in the service of Lord Darlington, but also to base his own subjectivity upon this 'greatness'. In this respect, by dealing with various functions of the use of an unreliable narrator in The Remains of the Day, it is possible to come up with certain implications of Stevens's unreliability that is rendered manifest by means of evasion or repression of narration, fallibility of memory, and disintegration of subjectivity and national identity. (English) ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Bu çalismada, Kazuo Ishiguro'nun Günden Kalanlar (1989) romaninda hakim olan anlati güvenilmezliginin retorik-odakli anlatibilim çerçevesinde, öznelesme kavramina odaklanarak incelenmesi amaçlanmaktadir. Romanin iç anlaticisi, yaslanmakta olan usak Stevens, güvenilmez anlatici tanimina problemsiz olarak uymaktan çok uzaktir. Bu yüzdendir ki, romanda anlati güvenilmezligi kullanimi, ulusal kimlik ve Ingilizlik gibi temel temalarla bir arada incelenmelidir, çünkü Stevens'in anlatimi araciligiyla bunlara benzer üstanlatilarin birer kurgu oldugu açiga çikarilabilmektedir. Romanda tartisilan baska bir konu ise, kaçamakli, yetkisiz, bastirilmis ve gizleyici olarak sorunsallastirilan anlati isinin kendisidir. Stevens'in anlatimi son derece geriye dönüktür; yanlizca Lord Darlington'un hizmeti altindayken geçen 'muhtesem' günleri yeniden yadetmek için degil, ayni zamanda kendi kimlik anlayisini bu 'muhtesemlik' temeline kurmak için geçmise bakmaktadir. Bu baglamda, Günden Kalanlarda güvenilmez anlaticiya yer verilmesinin çesitli islevleri ele alinarak, anlatinin sakinilmasi veya baskilanmasi, hafizanin yanilabilirligi ve benlik ile ulusal kimligin parçalanmasi yoluyla belirgin hale gelen Stevens'in güvenilmezliginin belirli çikarimlarina ulasmak mümkündür. (Turkish) ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Gaziantep University Journal of Social Sciences is the property of University of Gaziantep Journal of Social Sciences and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)