Residue of the Idealism: A Critical Analysis on Fantasy, Fascism and Everyday Life in Ishiguro''s The Remains of the Day

• Main Authors: kang-fan Jen, 任罡璠
• Other Authors: 陳淑卿
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2004
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/03708502468470462373

碩士 === 國立中興大學 === 外國語文學系 === 92 === Abstract Kazuo Ishiguro, in his distinguished novel The Remains of the Day, gives vivid descriptions of the story in which there is a man named Stevens whose honored past doesn’t suppress his regretful present. Consequently, this paper tends to give possible resolutions to Stevens’ problems─his relationship with Miss Kenton, his loyalty to Lord Darlington and, most of all, his definition of the word “dignity”. In order to realize why Stevens is such a person with certain personality, we should locate the big Other exerting tremendous influence on him. Therefore, this paper aims to figure out how moral value dignity becomes the big Other, as the “Law” in the symbolic order. This paper, divided into four main sections, focuses on two fundamental terms─“fantasy” as well as “fascism” in order to resolve Stevens’ problem. First of all, this paper, based on theory of Rey Chow, will explain why this mysterious power interpreting Stevens’ subject is a mechanism of projection called “fascism”. Then, this paper is going to employ Zizek’s concept of psychoanalysis to illustrate the relationship between the big Other and fantasy. Furthermore, by using Lacan’s idea of “Law and regulation”, this paper will show how fascism not only exists in the position as the big Other but also transfers into the “object a” (the small other) desired by Stevens’ subject. Unlike ordinary people who do right things to observe the “Law”, Stevens is longing for the “Law” itself. As a result, he often asks question like “what does dignity means?” Last but not least, this paper will examine the consequence resulted from the obsession with the value of dignity. That is, when focusing on the grand historical event and the spirit of dignity, Stevens obviously ignores his everyday life. For Henri Lefebvre, everyday life is one’s daily practice including all human relations and activities─comradeship, friendship as well as love. With the articulation of Lefebvre’s theory on everyday life, one can realize why Stevens assumes a militant attitude toward his public life while disregarding the possible affairs with Miss Kenton. In the conclusion, this paper would also figure out that Stevens, though taken as the stereotype colonized and cultivated by the moral law of dignity, finally grabs the moment when sitting on the pier, beginning to realize that bantering (as a common activity happens in everyday life) is not only a skill but a “key to human warmth.” Key Words: big Other, object a, fantasy, nationalism, fascism, Law, everyday life.