Intersections Of Autobiography, Fiction, And Postmodernism In Kazuo Ishiguro’s When We Were Orphans
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Date
2023
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Ankara Üniversitesi
Abstract
Kazuo Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans (2000) can be read as a postmodern ctional
autobiography, in which Christopher Banks, a ctional detective, uses autobiographical
writing to relieve himself from his childhood traumas caused by the mysterious
disappearance of his parents. Christopher reects on past events from his mature
perspective and lls in the gaps in his childhood memories by using his imagination to
cope with his traumatic past. However, the narrator is unable to make a complete
assessment of past events from his current perspective because of the temporal distance
between the past and the present. Challenging the notions of metanarrative and linear
temporality, he reimagines and reconstructs the past to create his own truths about his
life. On the other hand, Christopher's ctional autobiographical writing serves as a means
for self-discovery, which compels him to confront his traumatic past rather than hide it
behind the facade of a successful and renowned detective. Referring to the arguments on
postmodernism and autobiographical writing, this article examines When We Were
Orphans as a postmodern ctional autobiography to show that the narrator reconstructs
and reshapes his story in order to create a coherent and cohesive personal reality and
mitigate his childhood traumas
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Keywords
Kazuo Ishiguro, When We Were Orphans, Autobiography, Postmodernism, Postmodern Fictional Autobiography