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Welcome to again in my blog post, today here this blog is based on an Assignment Paper No. 107 : The Twentieth Century Literature : From World War II to the end of the Century, and topic is,
[Ukiyo-e as Narrative Form: Transience and Evasion in Kazuo Ishiguro's "An Artist of the Floating World"]
🔷 Details of Assignment :
Topic :- Ukiyo-e as Narrative Form: Transience and Evasion in Kazuo Ishiguro's "An Artist of the Floating World"
Paper :- Paper No. 107 : The Twentieth Century Literature : From World War II to the end of the Century.
Submitted to :- Smt. Sujata Binoy Gardi, Department of English, MKBU, Bhavnagar.
Submission date :- 17,April, 2025
🔷 Table of Contents :
- Personal Information,
- Details of Assignmen
- Abstract,
- Keywords,
- Introduction,
- Points of Assignment,
- Conclusion,
- References.
Abstract:
This paper explores the concept of ukiyo-e—the “floating world”—as a narrative and philosophical framework in Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel "An Artist of the Floating World". Traditionally associated with transience, impermanence, and the pleasures of the ephemeral in Japanese art and culture, ukiyo-e is repurposed by Ishiguro as a metaphor for memory, evasion, and the instability of selfhood. Through the unreliable narration of Masuji Ono, a former nationalist artist navigating post-war Japan, Ishiguro presents a world where truth is elusive and the past is continuously rewritten. The novel’s non-linear structure, digressive prose, and linguistic ambiguity reflect the aesthetic principles of ukiyo-e painting, where clarity dissolves into suggestion. This paper argues that Ishiguro uses ukiyo-e not to celebrate beauty, but to critique moral evasiveness and cultural amnesia. In doing so, he constructs a narrative that floats between personal and collective histories, asking readers to confront the discomfort of impermanence and ethical ambiguity.
Keywords:
Ukiyo-e
Transience
Memory
Evasion
Post-war Japan
Narrative form
Unreliable narrator
Ukiyo-e aesthetics
Historical responsibility
Japanese cultural philosophy
Identity
Selective memory
Aesthetic ambiguity
◼️ Introduction: Framing the Floating World
Kazuo Ishiguro’s An Artist of the Floating World (1986) is a subtle, introspective post-war novel that delves deep into memory, guilt, and the shifting cultural values of Japan after World War II. The title itself alludes to ukiyo-e, literally "floating world," a term rooted in Japanese aesthetics that encapsulates the ephemerality of life, sensual pleasures, and transient beauty—most notably represented through ukiyo-e art during the Edo period. However, Ishiguro adapts this concept not merely as a cultural symbol but as a narrative form, using ukiyo-e as a structural and philosophical lens to explore themes of memory, self-delusion, and evasive retrospection.
In this assignment, we examine how ukiyo-e informs the very architecture of Ishiguro’s narrative style—marked by fluid temporality, ambiguity, and emotional evasion. We argue that Ishiguro subverts the traditional celebratory tone of ukiyo-e to evoke post-war disillusionment, crafting a narrative voice that drifts in and out of clarity, much like the dissolving contours of a ukiyo-e painting.
1. Understanding Ukiyo-e: Historical and Aesthetic Context
The term ukiyo-e originally bore Buddhist connotations of suffering and impermanence, but by the Edo period (1603–1868), it came to signify a hedonistic lifestyle centered around pleasure quarters, art, and theatre. Ukiyo-e (“pictures of the floating world”) celebrated these transient moments through woodblock prints of geishas, kabuki actors, and landscapes—delighting in the beauty of impermanence.
This aesthetic of fleetingness, of savoring what is momentary and beautiful yet bound to fade, is deeply embedded in Japanese cultural consciousness. Ishiguro, although British-Japanese, channels this sensibility into his narrative form—not to revel in beauty, but to interrogate the unreliability of memory and the fragility of personal truth.
2. Memory as Floating World: Temporal Drift and Narrative Instability
The protagonist, Masuji Ono, a retired artist, narrates his story in a fragmented and meandering fashion. Events are recalled not chronologically but emotionally, triggered by associative thoughts or present encounters. This narrative drift mirrors the ukiyo ethos—time is fluid, space is ephemeral, and certainty dissolves.
“If on reflection I see things differently now, I can only put it down to the changes that have occurred within me...” – Masuji Ono
Ono’s insistence on the malleability of memory reflects an evasive engagement with truth. He frequently revises, contradicts, or undermines his earlier recollections, suggesting that like the floating world, the past is illusory, a shifting terrain where nothing is fixed. The unreliable narrator thus becomes an embodiment of ukiyo as a narrative technique—constantly evading definitive interpretation.
3. Evasion and Self-Delusion: The Art of Not Remembering
One of the central tensions in the novel is Ono’s slow, reluctant confrontation with his complicity in wartime propaganda. As a once-prominent artist who supported Imperialist ideology through his works, Ono now lives in a Japan that condemns the very values he once glorified. But instead of offering direct admissions or confessions, he circles around guilt, often resorting to ambiguous justifications or passive reflection.
This evasion is not merely psychological—it is embedded in the form of the novel. The prose is filled with qualifiers: “perhaps,” “it is possible,” “as I recall,” “I may be mistaken.” This linguistic haziness is the textual equivalent of the ukiyo-e—not just floating in content but in form.
Through this evasive narration, Ishiguro critiques the post-war culture of Japan, where many former nationalists, like Ono, sought to erase or soften their roles in wartime aggression. The floating world becomes a metaphor for cultural amnesia and selective remembrance.
4. Art, Responsibility, and the Ephemeral Identity
Ono’s identity as an artist is deeply entangled with the idea of legacy. His pride in having moved beyond the ukiyo-esque “pleasure district” art to nationalistic works signifies his belief in artistic purpose and moral contribution. However, the novel undermines this belief as Ono’s supposed influence is questioned by others and possibly exaggerated in his own recollection.
There is an ironic reversal here—Ono scorned the ukiyo art for being ephemeral and apolitical, yet it is his own legacy that fades in post-war Japan. In this way, Ishiguro reclaims ukiyo as a critique of authority and permanence, turning ephemerality into a site of truth rather than evasion.
5. Post-war Japan as a Floating World
The post-war setting of the novel—a society caught between remorse and reconstruction—mirrors the transient world of ukiyo-e. Streets have changed, buildings lie in rubble, and the younger generation repudiates the values of their elders. Ono’s Japan is not just recovering; it is reinventing itself, disowning its past as swiftly as it rebuilds.
This mutability, this refusal to anchor to the past, reflects ukiyo's spirit. Yet again, Ishiguro uses this aesthetic ambivalently. While ukiyo traditionally celebrated impermanence, here it is tinged with alienation and loss. Ono is a man out of time, suspended in a liminal space, like a drifting figure in a ukiyo-e print whose outlines are dissolving.
6. Ukiyo-e and the Visuality of Language
Ishiguro’s prose, deceptively plain, is rich in visual metaphors and gentle tonal shifts. Scenes are often described with attention to subtle aesthetic details—shadows, lights, the changing seasons—invoking the mood of ukiyo-e art.
For example, the recurring imagery of lanterns, reflections, and fog serves to reinforce the novel’s obsession with the half-seen and the fleeting. These motifs enhance the sense of emotional and moral ambiguity that pervades Ono’s memories.
Moreover, the narrative’s circular, digressive structure mimics the scroll-like unfolding of traditional Japanese art—where narrative progression is less important than tonal harmony and visual resonance. This makes An Artist of the Floating World a literary ukiyo-e, where the truth is never fixed but refracted through layers of personal and cultural memory.
7. The Painter as Archetype: From Ukiyo-e to Propaganda
Masuji Ono’s journey from aesthetic painter to nationalist propagandist mirrors Japan’s own transformation—from a culture rooted in ritual and refinement to one overtaken by imperial ambitions. His progression raises a vital question: what is the responsibility of the artist?
“I had taken great pride in the work I did… But today, I see things differently.” (Ishiguro, 1986)
Ono's self-justification resonates with Ishiguro's broader exploration of memory and regret. In many ways, Ono is not only a failed artist but also a ghost—a relic of another era, much like a fading ukiyo-e print hanging on a wall no one looks at anymore. He continues to perform the rituals of his old life, yet they ring hollow. His attempts at explaining himself sound like rehearsals for conversations that never happen.
8. Responsibility Deferred: Ethical Floatation
In An Artist of the Floating World, Kazuo Ishiguro masterfully constructs a narrator who drifts not only through memory but also through moral responsibility. Masuji Ono, once a patriotic artist creating propagandist work in support of imperial Japan, now finds himself in a world that disavows his past. However, instead of meeting this shift with direct acknowledgment or apology, Ono sidesteps culpability, often cloaking it in polite ambiguity and rhetorical distance.
He admits to some involvement—“perhaps”—but that word, subtle as a sigh, carries immense narrative weight. In a pivotal moment, Ono reflects:
“It is perhaps natural that I, as one of the more prominent members of our profession, should take some responsibility…”
On the surface, it appears as a moment of reckoning. But the modality—“perhaps”—serves as a cushion. It dilutes the force of confession, creating a space between speaker and truth, between memory and moral clarity. Ishiguro uses Ono’s cultured tone, his deference to social decorum, and his tendency to reflect rather than act as mechanisms of ethical deferral. Ono speaks of responsibility not with urgency, but with aesthetic distance.
- The Psychology of Rationalization
Ono’s narration can be read as a textbook case of self-rationalization. He does not lie outright—rather, he frames his memories selectively, leaning on politeness, context, and cultural norms to soften the harshness of his past. His storytelling becomes a tool of self-preservation, a way to remain respected in the eyes of his daughters, society, and perhaps even himself.
Much like the “floating world” of the ukiyo-e—where reality is filtered through beauty and stylization—Ono’s recollections are curated, ornamented, and often incomplete. His memory floats above the gritty truth, just as ukiyo-e art floats above the temporal sufferings of life.
This evasion is not unique to Ono. Ishiguro uses him as a symbol of post-war Japan, where questions of war guilt were often met with collective amnesia or selective memory. Critics like John Whittier Treat argue that postwar Japanese literature and society tended to sidestep direct confrontation with imperial aggression, replacing open remorse with poetic silence or stoic regret. Ono's character reflects this tendency.
- The Cloak of the Collective
One of Ono’s favorite rhetorical strategies is to dissolve personal responsibility into group identity. He often references “we artists”, “my colleagues”, or “many of us believed”—phrases that function as diffusers of guilt. This collectivization of responsibility dilutes the power of individual accountability.
It’s a form of what psychologists call “diffusion of responsibility”—the more people are involved, the less any one person feels truly responsible. This allows Ono to acknowledge his role without really owning it. His confession is always buffered:
“Many of us, at that time, felt it was our duty to support our country.”
Here, the use of “at that time” acts as a temporal shield, implying that his choices were shaped by historical circumstances rather than autonomous will. In essence, Ono places his actions in the hands of time, culture, and company—never quite in his own.
- Ukiyo-e Aesthetics as Moral Strategy
This evasion of ethical responsibility is more than a character flaw—it’s a narrative aesthetic. Ono’s entire worldview is shaped by ukiyo, the floating world of ephemeral beauty. In that world, nothing is fixed, everything is fleeting. And in such a world, guilt too becomes impermanent.
Ishiguro subverts this aesthetic tradition by showing how it can be weaponized as a form of denial. The same qualities that make ukiyo-e visually seductive—soft lines, lack of depth, stylized emotion—become dangerous when applied to moral memory. The beauty of distance becomes the ugliness of avoidance.
- Cultural Context: Silence as a National Trait
Ishiguro, who writes from a diasporic vantage point, critiques not just personal evasion but a national silence. Scholars such as Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney have explored how Japanese society, especially during the post-war years, cultivated a culture of honor without open guilt, apology without full admission.
Even Japan’s official war apologies, when they came, were often linguistically cautious, using terms like “regret” rather than “responsibility.” Ishiguro channels this national discourse into Ono’s diction—evasive, conditional, passive.
In doing so, the novel aligns with trauma theory, where silence and repression are not just symptoms of guilt, but signs of a broken relationship with the past. Ono's fragmented, drifting narrative reveals the cost of refusing to confront memory squarely. The past always returns—not as fact, but as haunting.
᪈ Critical Perspectives: Floating Ethics and Historical Responsibility
Scholars have long debated whether Ono is a tragic figure or a morally culpable one. His constant evasion makes it difficult to arrive at a stable moral judgment. Herein lies the brilliance of Ishiguro’s ukiyo-e-inflected form—it resists moral closure.
This aligns with Japanese postmodernism’s embrace of ambiguity and its suspicion of grand narratives. In eschewing definitive truths, Ishiguro invites the reader to engage in the moral labor of interpretation, much like contemplating a ukiyo-e print that is rich in suggestion but silent in statement.
᪘ Conclusion: The Art of Floating
In An Artist of the Floating World, Kazuo Ishiguro does not merely refer to ukiyo-e as a historical or cultural concept—he embodies it in the very fabric of his narrative. The novel floats through memory, evades absolute truths, and captures the emotional texture of a society in flux. Through Masuji Ono’s unreliable narration, Ishiguro critiques not only the complicity of individuals in historical violence but also the human tendency to smooth over uncomfortable truths with aesthetic evasions.
The floating world, once a site of pleasure and beauty, becomes in Ishiguro’s hands a symbol of moral drift and personal disorientation. And yet, there is a haunting elegance in this evasion, a quiet dignity in Ono’s failures and forgetting. By transforming ukiyo-e into a narrative strategy, Ishiguro offers a profound meditation on time, memory, and the vanishing contours of the self.
References:
Khachar, J. (2025, February 20). An Artist of the Floating World_ Introductory Presentation.pptx [Slide show]. SlideShare. https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/an-artist-of-the-floating-world_-introductory-presentation-pptx/275847367
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "ukiyo-e". Encyclopedia Britannica, 27 Feb. 2025, https://www.britannica.com/art/ukiyo-e. Accessed 12 April 2025.
Wright, T. (2021). No Homelike Place: The Lesson of History in Kazuo Ishiguro’s an artist of the floating world. In University of Pretoria. Retrieved April 12, 2025, from https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/50545/Wright_No_2014.pdf?sequence=1
Green Bee Study Guides. (2023, June 8). An artist of the floating world - Green Bee study guides. Retrieved April 12, 2025, from https://www.greenbeestudyguides.com/guides/an-artist-of-the-floating-world/
Ukiyo-E 120 illustrations. (2023, November 14). Everand. Retrieved April 12, 2025, from https://www.everand.com/book/257086655/Ukiyo-E-120-illustrations?_gl=1*1p0vq51*_gcl_au*NDMyODQ3MDE0LjE3NDQ0NDg5OTE.%27
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Images : 4
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