An artitst practice

Question 1

overarching thesis?

Answer 1

Art serves as a medium through which creators articulate and reflect their personal critiques of the political and social circumstances surrounding its creation. In this sense, the deliberate and thoughtful construction of a novel—an art form in its own right—enables readers to forge a more profound personal and intellectual engagement with the author’s intentions.

Question 2

second part of introduction?

Answer 2

Readers’ appreciation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s creative process in his prose fiction novel An Artist of the Floating World is both shaped and enriched by the Künstlerroman structure, set against the backdrop of post-World War II Japan.

Question 3

point sentence?

Answer 3

The artist of the floating world’ is constructed with a non-linear, dialogic and introspective structure to explore how nostalgia distorts memory, revealing the tension between Ono’s personal pride and the need to confront uncomfortable truths about the past.

Question 4

Quote 1

Answer 4

“I was standing on that little wooden bridge…two columns of smoke rising from the rubble”,

Question 5

Quote 2

Answer 5

“no great shame in mistakes made in the best of faith”.

Question 6

Quote 3

Answer 6

“I cannot recall precisely what I said at the meeting… But I remember feeling a sense of triumph.”

Question 7

point 1?

Answer 7

• deliberate contruction of text
• shifts between present, pasts via flashbacks, and ono’s reflective digressions
  -personal memory shaped by moral ambiguity
• compelling us to question the narrative and search for the truth.

Question 8

ETA 1?

Answer 8

• mentally and symbolically is placed between past and present, pride and guilt
• “I was standing on that little wooden bridge…two columns of smoke rising from the rubble”,
• failure to fully reconcile with his complicity
• vivid yet fragmented imagery of destruction evoked in the aftermath of the war - detached tone

Question 9

ETA 2?

Answer 9

• offers no personal reaction, suggesting a refusal to fully come to terms with his complicity in Japan’s militarist past
• “no great shame in mistakes made in the best of faith”
• Ishiguro reveals how memory, shaped by nostalgia and self-preservation, becomes fallible
• readers to question Ono’s narrative and recognise the psychological cost of denial.

Question 10

ETA 3?

Answer 10

• Ono continues to present subjective recollections of his past in order to preserve his pride,
• “I cannot recall precisely what I said at the meeting… But I remember feeling a sense of triumph.”
• sense of hesitation or unwillingness from Ono within this ellipsis, and rather allowing Ono’s emotion of pride to overshadow his lack of facts
• responder to critically evaluate the reliability of the narrative and the extent to which Ono confronts—or avoids—his moral responsibility.