An artist of the floating world resource 8c



Stage 6 English Advanced Module B mEsh Unit An Artist of the Floating World’ (pf) Kazuo IshiguroResource 8C – Changing Values: ActivitiesA useful summative quote:I'm not denying that there are evil individuals who do horrible things, but the view that you can explain from this observation why awful things happen on a large scale in the world is not adequate. I think this is one of the lessons that we learned from this century we just had, as Joan [Acocella] pointed out. I think it is tempting to think of the Professor Moriarty type figure that you have in Sherlock Holmes, to try to identify a model for where bad things come from. I think there's a natural tendency for us to always seek a culprit, a human culprit, rather than to take some kind of collective responsibility for failures on the part of civilization as a whole. My feeling is that a lot of bad things happen because you have these larger things, and because individuals who aren't morally extraordinary, but who aren't morally bad either, become agents in these larger tides, whether it's imperialism or whatever. And most people are helpless but to go along with the sway or the tide, and that this is one of the painful things, it seems to me, we learn by looking at the 20th century.Kazuo Ishiguro - Source: October, 1948Changing Values: Displacement of loyaltyOno’s and his children’s journey represents Japan’s difficult emergence from a xenophobic nation to a global powerhouse – they leave their naivety and childlike/simplistic view of the world and negotiate a balance between their previous cultural identity and an incorporation of new ways of thinking.Table SEQ Table \* ARABIC 1 – Context links to novel: students to complete this tablePre-WWII JapanPost-WWII JapanContextual consequenceKey eventIn historyIn novelShinto and Buddhist valuesDecreasing spiritual influenceImperial/nationalismAdmiration of American consumerism, popular culture/hybriditySocial cornerstone – “the greater social good”social hierarchy and respect to traditional superiorsTotal subjugation to various ‘masters’Disillusionment with those previously in powerUnquestioning, blind acceptanceQuestioning of traditional valuesDisagreement was considered treasonIncreasing dismissal/ rejection of collective visionLanguage and imagery – Consider and write:“…in the midst of a graveyard…the dark clusters of birds that perched…” (p 32)The ghosts and skeletons of the past haunt all of the characters, imbuing a Gothic tone?in Ono’s recollections.Explore and discuss the Gothic imagery in this section. How does it contribute to the foreshadowing of dark discovery in the novel thus far? April, 1949Workshop in small groups of two to four:1. Research and analyse a key issue of?the novel from the list below, discussing the way the text responds to, critiques and shapes our understanding of the personal and political experiences of this period in Japan.2. Students present material in a workshop using a Powerpoint presentation or other suitable ICT format, promoting an understanding of Ishiguro's fictional exploration of Japan’s (and Ono’s) changing values.The belief of many younger Japanese of the era, that men like Ono are criminals who should be made accountable for their?actions during the decade before the war.Changing attitudes in the post war period, even amongst the city's affluent classes, towards demonstrations against the American Occupation.The influence of the American Occupation on how the Japanese felt about them, for example, p 102, Shintaro's anxiety that the selection committee for his high school position has "the American authorities to satisfy..."November, 1949Discuss:“(My boss) is not only a kindly man, he is someone of the greatest ability and vision…to work for an incompetent superior, however kindly, can be a demoralising experience” (p 184-5)Explain how this quote interrelates?to?a number of key values discussed in the novel. For example: impact on the individual of the rise of corporations that were recontextualising Samurai values in the new economic context,?American paternalist colonisation – erosion of traditional values, cognitive dissonance of integrating the country responsible for detonating the H-bombs with their political persona of cultural benefactor, the purpose of art, legacy, Ono’s previous, flawed leadership as member of the Committee of Unpatriotic Activities etcetera.Research:Ono: “…is it in your opinion (Taro) entirely for the good that so many sweeping changes were made at your firm after the war?” Taro: “We needed new leaders with a new approach appropriate to the world of today” (p 185)?Taro’s reference to “Nippon Electrics (KNC)” is a thinly veiled reference to Nippon Electronics (NEC), a real company co-owned by Japan and America in 1899 and ‘reimagined’ after WWII. Their historical development is a tangible scaffold for the transformation of Imperialist Japan into the more recognisable nation at the end of the Cold War; not only in regard to corporate/social structure, but issues of gender imbalance, familial structures and unswerving loyalty to managers/senseis.a) Research: Nippon Electronics and the NEC Corporationb) Compose a 150 word response, explaining how your understanding of two values in the novel has been enhanced by your research. Provide?particular focus on how?your understanding has?enhanced your knowledge of your own context?June, 1950Discuss:The Italian poet, Cesare Pavese, wrote in the early 1900s:“The richness of life lies in memories we have forgotten.”He also said, “Artists are the monks of the bourgeois state.”And, “We do not remember days, we remember moments.”Finally, Pavese observed:“The closing years of life are like the end of a masquerade party, when the masks are dropped.” Discuss: How do the above quotes reflect Ono’s way of narrating the novel?Connect: the?symbolism of the natural seasons to Ono’s personal narrative. Write: Select one value from the list below and re-read the 2 worksheets Resource 7a and 7b, focussing on the entries under that value for each section. Compose a 250-300?word paragraph discussing:The importance of that value to the action of the textHow that value develops as a reflection of Ono’s increasing self awarenessLinks to the characterisation, narrative voice, motifs etcetera? What we learn about the post-war period, from examining?this valueMost relevant quotes and techniques used to exemplify this?value Values:Obligation: loyalty or legacyShifting positions in society: family values, gender values, erosion of traditional values and cultureThe purpose of artRedemption and reconciliation ................
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