Dislocation, Feeling of Non-Belonging, ‘homelessnes’ and Being Trapped Between Two Cultures in Kazuo Ishiguro’s Novel “When We Were Orphans”

Abstract

Ishiguro shares with other writers who belong to the ‘new internationalism’, the same concern regarding the extremely rapid social changes and the instinct for survival in such a world. He insists that the concept of ‘an international writer’ includes the literary aims, not only one’s nationality. One of the most interesting themes in the novel When we were orphans is the topic of national identity, primarily the English, and then the Japanese. This is one of the key issues in all Ishiguro’s works. The writer wants to investigate the extent to which national characteristics are innate, whether they can be adopted and how much social circumstances matter. It seems that the concepts of homelessness, dislocation and all they may imply are useful means of researching the complexity and richness of Ishiguro’s writing. There is no doubt that the reconstruction of one’s own history, origin and identity are the central themes in the novel. Because of the alienation and repression that torment him in the present, the protagonist gives his best to reconstruct his past.