Narratological Aspects in “The Remains of the Day” and “Nocturnes” by Kazuo Ishiguro

Abstract

This paper analyzes two works by Kazuo Ishiguro, with the objective of comparing – from the perspective of narratology – the narrative techniques, narrative elements and types of narrator in his latest collection of short stories Nocturnes (2009), on the one hand, and his novel The Remains of the Day (1989), on the other. The narratological analysis in this paper is based on the narrative theory of Gerard Genet, although we will also be referring to the relevant definition of unreliable narrator by Rimmon-Kenan. After underlining the similarities and differences in narrative techniques and types of narrator, in the last three chapters we focus on the language and narrative style, presence/absence of dialogue and memory as a form of narration. The ultimate objective of this paper is to answer the question of whether the typical Ishiguro’s narrator has changed in the observed twenty-year time span, or whether it has preserved its main characteristics with slight modifications and specificities.