REPRESENTATION OF MEMORY AND NOSTALGIA: KAZUO ISHIGURO’S WHEN WE WERE ORPHANS

The aim of this paper is to analyse the notions of memory and nostalgia in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel When We Were Orphans (2000), in which the protagonist-narrator Christopher Banks searches for his parents, who disappeared suddenly in his childhood. The novel tells the life of Christopher banks from 1900s to 1958, therefore the fragmented sources of his orphanage lead to a formation of monologue through his inner speeches. The memories guide the reader to know about his identity now that memory is related to past and it is a deliberate and conscious action of human beings. In The Remains of the Day (1989), When We were Orphans (2000) and Never Let me Go (2005), Ishiguro writes about memory and past of the characters in search of an identity, home and self. Additionally, since historical and political background of the Shanghai Settlement and the Sino-Japanese War plays a crucial role, it will be explained to enable the reader perceive the relationship between history, fact and fiction. Although the novel portrays that nostalgia may cause unhappiness and “… that nostalgia can be dangerous, Ishiguro also demonstrates that it can serve as a foundation for imagining a World better than one’s present” (Weston, 2012: 337). It will be concluded that Christopher seems to go on living through his memories and his nostalgic part since the sort of emptiness is filled with his memories.