Self―Reflexivity within Human Strangeness in Nocturnes.docVIP

Self―Reflexivity within Human Strangeness in Nocturnes 　　【摘 要】Like his earlier novels， this collection of short stories continues the similar thematization which has been recurring from Ishiguro’s beginning of creations. Through reading Nocturnes， readers are reminded the similar familiarity of his first-person narrators or protagonists who ironically reveal but also purposely conceal the inconsistency of their nostalgia and the present realities， which becomes an allegory of the pursuing self-identities human beings intend to elude in the foregrounding predicament of human conditions. 　　【关键词】Surrealism； Self-identity； Melancholy； Idealism 　　The everyday boredom of these protagonists’ life has been unfolded through their reluctance to face the frustrated ideals or dreams of being talented musicians， which becomes some kind of allegory of the emotional experiences of human beings. All the stories of Nocturnes mainly focus on the linking theme of unrealized potential or talent， imbued with some elements of regret， in which the narratives have been “contrived by the author to make coherent sense on the ‘literal，’ or primary， level of signification， and at the same time to signify a second， correlated order of signification” （Abrams， 2004： 5）. For most of the main characters in Nocturnes， music has always been representing “an ideal self that has little to do with reality […] most binds these stories： the conflict between what music promises and what life delivers” （Fleming， 2009）. 　　1 An Elegiac Allegory of Human Images 　　As the title Nocturnes indicates， each story of the collection has concentrated on its music and musicians， together with nightfall as its background， which nevertheless contributes to a heartbreaking “story circle” of similar manners and behaviors. Like his other novels， Ishiguro re-exhibits such a predicament these groaning protagonists really intend to forget， only to escape into such kind of pathetic music which “has been refined and deve