An Artist Floating World - Kazuo Ishigruo

 This blog is a response to the task based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s Novel An Artist of the Floating World., assigned by Dr. Dilip Barad sir.

An Artist Floating World -Kazuo Ishigruo

AUTHOR

Kazuo Ishiguro, in full Sir Kazuo Ishiguro, (born November 8, 1954, Nagasaki, Japan), Japanese-born British novelist known for his lyrical tales of regret fused with subtle optimism. In 2017 he won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his works that “uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world.”

His first two novels A Pale View of Hills and An Artist of the Floating World explored Japanese identity and their elegiac tone. He also wrote in other genres life historical fiction and science fiction, The Remains of the Day (Man booker prize winner), Time, Never Let Me Go are his best science fiction novels.

In 2017, Ishiguro was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, because "in novels of great emotional force, has uncovered the abyss beneath our illusory sense of connection with the world".

NOVEL

The ''floating world'' of the title is the Japanese term for night life in the pleasure districts. But its meaning grows. An aspiring artist, young Ono began as a hack artist, then became the star pupil in a school of bohemian artists who enjoyed and celebrated bars and sake, hostesses and lantern light.

An Artist of the Floating World (1986) is a novel by British author Kazuo Ishiguro. It is set in post-World War II Japan and is narrated by Masuji Ono, an ageing painter, who looks back on his life and how he has lived it. He notices how his once great reputation has faltered since the war and how attitudes towards him and his paintings have changed. The chief conflict deals with Ono's need to accept responsibility for his past actions, rendered politically suspect in the context of post-War Japan. 

'Lantern' appears 34 times in the novel. Even on the cover page, the image of lanterns is displayed. What is the significance of Lantern in the novel?

Lanterns in the novel are associated with Ono’s teacher Mori-san, who includes a lantern in each of his paintings and dedicates himself to trying to capture the look of lantern light. For Mori-san, the flickering, easily extinguished quality of lantern light symbolizes the transience of beauty and the importance of giving careful attention to small moments and details in the physical world. Lanterns, then, symbolize an outlook on life which prizes small details and everyday moments above the ideological concerns of nationalists or commercial concerns of businesspeople. It is an old-fashioned, aesthetically focused, and more traditional way of viewing the world.

Write in brief a review of the film based on the novel

An Artist of the Floating World, a Japanese movie by Kazuki Watanbe is devoted to Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel An Artist of the Floating World. click here Set in post-World War II Japan, “An Artist of the Floating World” is Japanese pubcaster adaptation of the Kazuo Ishigruo novel oF the same title. It stars Ken Watanabe in the lead role of Masuji Ono, a renowned artist looking back on, and coming to terms with, his life against the backdrop of a country being rebuilt after the war.

There are several change in movie. movie provides better understanding, it helps us to better understand the novel and to remember the characters.

Debate on the Uses of Art / Artist (Five perspectives: 1. Art for the sake of art - aesthetic delight, 2. Art for Earning Money / Business purpose, 3. Art for Nationalism / Imperialism - Art for the propaganda of Government Power, 4. Art for the Poor / Marxism, and 5. No need of art and artist (Masuji's father's approach)

The novel talk about art.  Masuji Ono was protagonist of the novel, he was artist and whole novel written around Masuji Ono.  The novel moves around the art and explores the role of responsibility.  He talks with a bridge of hesitation, hiding something behind every thing but at the end of the novel we actually get to know about the tragedy or the one wrong step taken by him is his field of art which he is not regretting or guilty of.

1. Art for the sake of art - aesthetic delight

The phrase expresses the belief held by many writers and artists, especially those associated with Aestheticism, that art needs no justification, that it need serve no political, didactic, or other end.

Mori- san, art teacher of Masuji Ono was a master of ukiyo- e. Art is for inner happiness not moral purpose by Masuji Ono aesthetic art. We find Masuji Ono sharing the views of Aristotle about art- “Art is to provide aesthetic delight, communicable expression, express emotion and represent life.”

2. Art for Earning Money / Business purpose

 In the novel we find the firm- ‘Takeda firm’ which does the business of Japanese painting as they are in demand. They hire some young artists, give them money and task them with complete painting for a specific duration. We have also seen this scene in the movie. Artists sit in the ‘assembly line’ and keep on painting, as if machines are working and in this process the delight or the process of making the painting is not enjoyed.

3. Art for Nationalism 

Here  the novel we see the idea of Mori- San was right if those who want an art to stay alive forever paint aesthetic delight. If one is painting for the government what will be his condition once the government will change. He will definitely lose position but also the respect in society. Ono painted the painting for war and later everyone realized the decision of the war was wrong. Then everyone starts blaming the artist who painted for war and motivated them for war. 

4. Art for the Poor 

Chisu Matsuda was the one who influenced ono for nationalist paintings. Chisu influenced him that for the poor we need money and for money we need to attack. The idea of war for Ono was for the betterment of his society. If one wants to draw for the poor they must spread awareness about it through paintings but should not start adapting the things which are not correct at all.

5. No need of art and artist (Masuji's father's approach)

Ono’s father was a businessman and he used to believe that art doesn't pay for a good and leisure life. When he came to know about Ono thinking of profession as an artist he burnt his paintings and explained about the downtrodden life of artists. According to him, to live a good life one needs money which can be earned in paintings. And so he always supported ‘no need for art and artists.’

What is the relevance of this novel to our times?

Similar to the theme of the politicisation of art, the novel explores the role of responsibility through the narration of Masuji Ono. There is a conflict between actions and culpability created through Ono's inability to take responsibility for the political aspects of his past work.

Thank you