tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2007:/blogs/dreams/ddeignan/229 2007-05-08T03:50:13Z Discussion of the use of the Dreamworld in Kazuo Ishiguro's "The Unconsoled" Movable Type Enterprise 1.02 tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2007:/blogs/dreams/ddeignan//229.2291 2007-04-24T01:45:23Z 2007-05-08T03:50:13Z

What does it mean when a writer says that he is "borrowing from the language of dream" ? (Kleffel). Kazuo Ishiguro the author of The Remains of the Day, uses that phrase to describe the form and structure of...

silent partner What does it mean when a writer says that he is "borrowing from the language of dream" ? (Kleffel). Kazuo Ishiguro the author of The Remains of the Day, uses that phrase to describe the form and structure of his experimental novel, The Unconsoled. Writers have often used dreams in their work - to foreshadow or predict events, to illuminate the psychology of the dreamer or even as a fundamental part of the plot, where real events turn out to be dreams or vice versa. Ishiguro has found a new way to use dreams to create an environment that is both disorienting and familiar. His "language of dream" is the glue that links the form and the content. Time and space shifting, composite identities, insights into memory and the subconscious, miscommunication and missed opportunities, an atmosphere of anxiety and suspense, the absurd and the comic, a flexibility in relation to morals, experiencing emotions and a lack of resolution are characteristics of dreams. These dream elements also link conceptually to themes in the novel. The novel's major themes include the use of memory in evaluating out lives, the direct links between our memory and our psychology, our inability to be fully self-aware psychologically, the pressure of over-commitments and the repercussions of miscommunication in relationships, how a society looks back on it's collective decisions and the absurdities in modern living. In marrying this slightly absurd and surreal "language of dream" structure to the basic philosophical question of how to live in the modern world, the novel provokes the discussion of how lives are evaluated. More specifically and personally, how would we evaluate and live our lives if we, like Ryder, could come face to face with ourselves, as we were in the past and as we could be in the future. Click Play to hear Ishiguro discusses "language of dream" as a new way to portray a character's inner life. Clip 1: In the second Clip he explains how this method has a relationship to his ideas about the novel itself. Clip 2: Chapter 1 : An Intro to Characters and Plot Protagonist and Narrator: Mr. Ryder, a famous pianist, who arrives in an unnamed European city to perform a concert and give an important speech for the citizens of the city. The Citizens: Various characters who are all concerned with the crisis of deciding who should be the next musical leader for the city. The elderly hotel porter: Gustav - he gives Ryder a long speech about the method and ethics of being a good porter during an elevator ride which should only take a minute. While he is showing Ryder around the room, Ryder knows exactly what Gustav is thinking. There is no explanation given as to how Ryder can do this and why he takes it for granted. Location: When Ryder lays down on the hotel bed, he realizes that the room is "the very room that had served as my bedroom during the two years my parents and I had lived at my aunt's house on the borders of England and Wales"(Ishiguro, 16) Dream Elements: Mind reading, anxiety, illogical timing of events, location /scene shifting without explanation. By the end of chapter one, the rules of the environment are still unclear but a dreamlike atmosphere is being created. To orient ourselves within Ishiguro's strange fictional world we can use our own knowledge of dreams and the insights of dream theorists. ]]> tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2007:/blogs/dreams/ddeignan//229.2300 2007-04-23T04:41:52Z 2007-05-07T02:10:32Z

Dream Theorists and their Theories applied to The Unconsoled Sigmund Freud posits that the basic function of dreams is wish fulfillment, where the dreamer desires something unconsciously but cannot express the desire in waking life. Freud describes condensation as "the...

silent partner Dream Theorists and their Theories applied to The Unconsoled Sigmund Freud posits that the basic function of dreams is wish fulfillment, where the dreamer desires something unconsciously but cannot express the desire in waking life. Freud describes condensation as "the psychic materical" of the dream thoughts compressed and hidden in the dream content. (Freud 212) Novel : Boris, Stephan and Brodsky are composite figures of themselves (local people in the community) and Ryder himself at different ages. Carl Jung agrees with Freud that condensation is a feature of dreams (Jung 11). Jung developed further ideas about collective figures. He defines the term imago as "a person whom I preceive mainly through my projections". In dreams, the imagos come from the subject's "unconscious projections". the imago is the dreamer's image or projection of themselves. Novel: Ryder projects his memories of his past and his concerns about his future on to his imagos, Boris, Stephan and Brodsky, subconsciously. Boris is a multi-layered composite or imago because he is Boris, son of Sophie, he resresents Ryder as a child and when Ryder and Sophie are husband and wife, Boris is then Ryder's son. J Allan Hobson describes dreaming as an altered state of consciousness where "we are not capable of critically observing, assessing and appreciating our delusional and confabulatory awarenesses" (Hobson). This suggests that full awareness and understanding is just not possible in a dream state. Novel: Ryder is unaware of his dream-like state and often misunderstands people and events. He is nonchalant to the fact that he knows Gustav's thoughts. Ernest Hartmann a contemporary dream theorist, defines the “contextualization of emotion” in dreams, the process whereby our dreams are linked with the concerns and wishes that surround strong memories (Hartmann 8). Hartmann has done scientific research on trauma victims to back up his theories. He admits that the “what” and the “why” of dreams are still elusive. He does argue that the dream provides a “context for the emotion” and “an explanatory metaphor for the dreamer’s emotional state of mind” (Hartmann 4). The dream is a way of working out the trauma, of experiencing the emotions in a safe environment. Novel: Just as the dream is a safe environment for the dreamer, the dream-like structure of the novel creates a safe environment for Ryder and for the reader. ]]> tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2007:/blogs/dreams/ddeignan//229.2302 2007-04-22T04:51:01Z 2007-05-08T03:58:58Z

1. Time and location shifts Long roads travelled into the countryside lead to places that are right beside the hotel, which is back in the city center and a centerpiece of the story. Scenes like an elevator ride can take...

silent partner 1. Time and location shifts Long roads travelled into the countryside lead to places that are right beside the hotel, which is back in the city center and a centerpiece of the story. Scenes like an elevator ride can take longer that they should or they change instantly, as they can in dreams. When Ryder, Sophie and Boris want to leave the party that took them a long time to drive to, they leave through a door and "are now standing in the long dark corridor that led past the hotel drawing room and into the lobby"(280). In this bizarre world, they are able to step from one place to another, which would be impossible in reality. 2. Composite Identities When Ryder meets Sophie and Boris, who are Gustav's daughter and grandson, there is a strong familiarity and they also represent or are in fact Ryder's wife and child. Sophie goes from being introduced to Ryder, a famous stranger, into a conversation with him moments later, about a house that they could buy, it "might be exactly what we have been looking for"(34). Freud defines the collective figure as "combining the actual features of two or more persons into a dream-image"(Freud 224). The controlling father and mother, the Hoffman's, who have too high expectations for their son Stephan, are collective figure because they also represent or are Ryder's father and mother. So Stephan Hoffman is a version of Ryder as a young man. 3. Insights into Memory and and the Subconscious The reader gradually builds a clear picture of Ryder’s past and possible future because he is continually meeting people in the community that represent important people from his present and from other times in his life. His memory and subconscious are revealed to us directly often without him being as aware of it as we are, because he does not openly acknowledge his other connection to Stephan or Hoffman or Sophie. The shifting relationships he has with them in the course of the novel are all just portrayed as a normal state of being, even though it’s more like a dream reality. Ryder does recall some childhood memories during the novel, such as remembering playing in his father’s car to get aware from his parents awful fighting (Ishiguro 261). We get access to his subconscious memories when he gets inside Stephan’s head and is aware of Stepahn's thoughts. That’s how we learn the details about how the Hoffmans behave, who we must remember also represent Ryder’s parents. When Stephan who is also a young Ryder, plays the piano for them at his mother’s birthday, his playing is not up to the standard they expect and the unusually good mood of the family occasion dissolves with his mother’s “frosty expression”(Ishiguro 69). Jumping back to the present and Ryders’ visit, when it comes near to his performance, we see the effect of the past on Ryder. He has not gotten over wanting his parents approval and is still fantasizing about a moment when they will come to see him play. He asks Miss Stratmann, his schedule organizer, “Surely it wasn’t unreasonable of me to assume they would come this time?” He gets very upset and starts “to sob” when he knows it will not happen (512). 4. Miscommunication and Missed Opportunities Miscommunication is a characteristic of dreaming and also a large part of the underlying theme - that miscommunication in personal relationships is a big factor in the problem of living life in an unsatisfactory way. One day when Gustav was younger, his little daughter Sophie was pestering him with questions while he was trying to put up a shelf. He decided to be silent with her for a few days (82). Then a stalemate of silence ensued, followed by a habit of silence, which he said had no animosity, but it persisted for years. This is a poignant example of how a relationship can become non-communicative, for no good reason. Ryder often misses the opportunity to be close to Boris, sometimes withholding affection as his own father and mother did. There is an expectation created by Ryder's conversations with Boris that he will have more time for Boris later, but with the constant rushing around, that expectation is not fulfilled. ]]> tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2007:/blogs/dreams/ddeignan//229.2472 2007-04-22T00:04:04Z 2007-05-07T03:44:38Z

5. Anxiety and Suspense Ryder is often on his way somewhere and it feels like he will never get there, which is a typical dream scenario. This adds to the atmosphere of anxiety in the novel. He seems to be...

silent partner 5. Anxiety and Suspense Ryder is often on his way somewhere and it feels like he will never get there, which is a typical dream scenario. This adds to the atmosphere of anxiety in the novel. He seems to be always behind schedule, a schedule that he does not even know. According to Bert O. States, "Dream narratives are notoriously given to peripeties, or to worst-case realizations"(States). Ryder is brought to a function by Hoffman and asked to make a speech. Everyone is in evening dress, but Ryder is still in his pajamas. Dreaming that you are completely or partially naked is common (States). When Ryder stands up to speak, his dressing gown open so he is "displaying the entire naked front of my body"(Ishiguro 143). 6. The Absurd and the Comic These absurd and comic situations in the novel are integral to it’s efforts to mirror the dream experience and hint to ideas about the absurdities of modern life. Ryder comes upon Brodsky after he has been in an accident. He is lying under his bicycle and there happens to be a surgeon there who recommends that Brodsky has his leg amputated immediately. The surgeon asks Ryder for “some sharp implement with which I should carry out the operation” (441). The situation is totally ridiculous and darkly funny. The surreal language of the book comes into play in this section where the incident feels unreal, even more dream-like than other situations Ryder is in. 7. Flexible Moral Boundaries This absurdity also helps us to maintain sympathy for the flawed protagonist Ryder. After Brodsky’s accident, Ryder could come across as very self-absorbed and uncaring. He refuses to stay or to drive Brodsky to see Miss. Collins as he asks (443). Ryder is under pressure because he needs to contact Sophie right away, about Gustav’s illness, which is important, but he seems to be numb and emotionless at this point towards Brodsky. People usually do not feel as guilty about their actions in dreams as they do in reality because they do not have full control over their subconscious thoughts and feelings. In this novel, Ishiguro has found a way to help us temporarily suspend our judgments of Ryder and his actions, just as we must accept his strange dream-like environment. Priming can be defined as “a change in a person’s ability to identify, produce or classify an item”(Schacter). The author uses the language of dreams to prime us to suspend our normal beliefs and judgments. This temporary suspension of moral codes, means that when Ryder behaves in ways that are uncaring and unethical, we as readers can stay with him because our minds have been primed to accept the unusual and bear in mind that all is not what it seems. 8. Experiencing Emotions Ryder is not an emotional character but different events trigger him to express sadness and anger. Boris is attached to a tattered handyman manual that Ryder has given him. This makes Ryder angry and he shouts at the boy saying, “Listen, this is a useless present. Utterly useless. No thought, no affection, nothing went into it” (471). Ryder is cruel and impatient with Boris but at the same time he seems incapable of any deeper understanding of the affect he may have on the boy. The emotion is there but there is a dreamlike fog around it. 9. Lack of Resolution The final chapter of the novel has a lack of resolution, similar to dreaming. Often when we dream, we wake up before we get to the end. We don’t get to see what would happen next. In narrative, however, Culler explains that according to Aristotle “plot is the most basic feature” and “that good stories must have a beginning, middle and end and that they give pleasure because of the rhythm of their ordering” (Culler 84). Ishiguro is obviously experimenting with the traditional sequence of events and the expectation of a resolution at the end. There is an ending to Ryders visit but he does not wake up to his mistakes. ]]> tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2007:/blogs/dreams/ddeignan//229.2437 2007-04-21T18:51:13Z 2007-05-08T05:34:07Z

The novel's major themes include the use of memory in evaluating out lives, the direct links between our memory and our psychology, our inability to be fully self-aware psychologically, the pressure of over-commitments and the repercussions of miscommunication in relationships,...

silent partner The novel's major themes include the use of memory in evaluating out lives, the direct links between our memory and our psychology, our inability to be fully self-aware psychologically, the pressure of over-commitments and the repercussions of miscommunication in relationships, how a society looks back on it's collective decisions and the absurdities in modern living. Lack of Psychological Self-Awareness The use of composite figures and past memories and our awareness of who they are and what they represent , remind us of one of the themes - self-awareness in relation to others. In reality parents often are not fully aware of the ways they affect their children. Even the high expectations that parents can place on a child can have negative affects on how that child develops. Ryder, the adult, is still living with an overriding desire to gain respect and recognition from his parents and he is simultaneously unaware that he is repeating the cycle of bad parenting with his own child, Boris. Links between our memory and our psychology Brodsky, who is possibly the person Ryder will become, has not learned either. He continues to carry around this psychological damage, his “wound”. He never gets over the need for his parents admiration and it means that he loses out on Miss Collins love and even misses out on finding real satisfaction or providing comfort to others through his music. Perhaps Miss. Collins misunderstands him, but by the end she is full of hate toward him and accuses him of being a “cowardly, irresponsible fraud” which is what he has always thought of himself (Ishiguro, 499). Overcommitment and the Repercussions of Miscommunication Issues raised in this novel include ideas about obligations and compassion towards family and others in the community. Bruce Robbins, writing for Contemporary Literature, suggests that “the blockage of emotion between his characters” is linked to the idea that people are too busy to do the “caring” work, (that used to be done by full-time housewives), as being linked in the phrase “too busy to care” which bring together two distinct characteristics of the novel, “time deficit and the blockage of caring”. We also see this repeated in exchanges between Ryder and Sophie where he does not have enough time for her and Boris and argues that the people of the city need him. He is angry when he declares to Sophie, “I’m needed, why can’t you see that? I’m needed out here!” and is conflicted between home and work obligations (Ishiguro 37). Ishiguro illustrates that family and close relationships are sometimes chopped down by harriedness and too much investment in a work life as people look for ways to feel useful. The dream elements, like anxiously rushing around, are being used to relate to a larger principle about people rushing around in a modern globalized world. Nostalgia - personal and collective On the societal level, Ishiguro also examines the collective memory of the society at large. Ishiguro says he is interested in nostalgia and memory, in the way people look back on their own lives and try to evaluate themselves. This applies to Ryder and also the whole community. The whole town is collectively looking back at their decision to make Christoff their musical hero and now they are regretting it. They are trying to remake their image as a cultured community by ‘righting’ that wrong. Passaro notes the critique of a “fascism of high culture”(Passaro 8). The social ostracism of Christoff is evidence of what happens when you go against the will of the majority. When he challenges Ryder’s authority on “local conditions”, he is shouted down by the crowd (Ishiguro 199). In fact Dr. Lubanski had to stop the crowd from “a full-scale assault” on Christoff (202). The people of the city are also unaware and unable to address and correct the problem. The notion that a famous person like Ryder can arrive and “save” the city with his performance and speech turns into a joke for the reader. Ryder never even gets to make the speech. However, Brodsky performs much better than expected but in fact the people of the city are not ready for it, as Stephan says, “They do want something better. But …but not that” (522). This society is not learning because they are looking back at the past unrealistically. Evaluating Lives - No Easy Answers Ishiguro shows us how difficult communication and relationships can be. He seems to be implying that some things in families can’t be fixed. The Hoffmans never change in their approach to Stephan / Ryder. Love is elusive and hard to maintain in this novel. Miss Collins grows to hate Brodsky and Ryder is rejected by Sophie and Boris. This is all quite hopeless but we realize that Ryder will still go on, unaware, but trying to be useful. Also, Ryder may not be heartless, just ignorant of what is really important in his own life. How Not to Live? Perhaps Ryder's future will not turn out as bleak as Brodsky – there is a suggestion of a fresh start in a new place with new people, even if he only shares the camaraderie of having a good breakfast with strangers. Laughing at the sad and strange outcome means that we at least are aware of the mistakes and the irony, which may leave us with a shred of hope. ]]> tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2007:/blogs/dreams/ddeignan//229.2304 2007-04-20T04:52:38Z 2007-05-07T06:04:11Z

Brooke Allen, from the Wall Street Journal, observes that the world of this novel is a place "where you must live your life by the inexplicable logic and ever changing rules imposed by the dream itself" (Allen). She concludes...

silent partner Brooke Allen, from the Wall Street Journal, observes that the world of this novel is a place "where you must live your life by the inexplicable logic and ever changing rules imposed by the dream itself" (Allen). She concludes that in comparison to his other work, Ishiguros' "subject continues to be, as it has always been, character and emotion"(Allen). Vince Passaro, from Harper's Magazine, acknowledges the "severe dreamlike quality; but merely to call it dreamlike is insufficient to the anxiety and fascination it evokes" (Passaro 5). He also insists that "readers will find it difficult, especially at first, to live in this world of drifting reality and constant inappropriateness" (Passaro 9). James Wood, from The New Republic, agrees that it is a "composed dream narrative" but contends that "it's decipherment could only be meaningless since a dream's significance is that it is not intended, not artistic, not written"(Wood). Bruce Robbins, writing for Contemporary Literature, discussed the theme of being too busy, where Ryder is in constant conflist with his schedule, "The Unconsoled seems to elevate harriedness into a sort of ontological principle, a description of Being itself" (Robbins 5). Critiquing the Critics There is a consensus here that the form is dream-like. Passaro's mention of difficulty in reading suggests a challenge to the reader and he does imply a payoff when he grants that "one accepts" that the framework is unusual and "the effect is...stronger than the sum of it's parts, a rope would together from strands of dreaminess, dislocation and loss (Passaro 9). This suggests the link between form and content. Yet Wood seems not to accept the dream as a form but discusses it more like a literal dream. When Wood asks "what to make, say, of Mr.Brodsky, the old conductor", he seems to be completely unaware of ideas about condensation and imagos (Dream theory in the Novel). He misses that Brodsky, the failed drunken composer who the town is placing their hopes in, is also a representation of Ryder as an old man. Robbins tackles the issue of the philosophy of this novel. He asserts that if the moral of the novel is exposing a character who unwisely chooses work obligations over his family, then it would be "disappointingly simplistic" (Robbins 434). He instead interprets Ryder's attempts to accomodate Sophie and Boris, Gustav, Brodsky, Stephan, his parents and the townspeople, as someone trying to not have a limit to his sympathizing with and helping others. ]]> tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2007:/blogs/dreams/ddeignan//229.2457 2007-04-19T02:47:49Z 2007-05-07T06:55:12Z

Allen, Brooke. "Leaving Behind Daydreams for Nightmares"The Wall Street Journal, October 11, 1995, p. 12 Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory : A Very Short Introduction. Oxford : Oxford UP. 1997. Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. Oxford : Oxford UP. 1999....

silent partner The Wall Street Journal, October 11, 1995, p. 12 Culler, Jonathan. Literary Theory : A Very Short Introduction. Oxford : Oxford UP. 1997. Freud, Sigmund. The Interpretation of Dreams. Oxford : Oxford UP. 1999. Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. New York: Vintage Books, Oct 1993. Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Unconsoled. New York: Knopf 1995 Jung, CG. Dreams. New Jersey : Princeton UP. 1974. Hartmann, Ernest. Dreams and Nightmares. Cambridge: Perseus Publishing. 1998 Kleffel, Rick. "Interview with Kazuo Ishiguro". San Francisco: KQED (April 25, 2005). Passaro, Vince. "The Unconsoled". Harpers Magazine. Oct 1995. v291. Robbins, Bruce. "Very Busy Just Now: Globalization and Harriedness in Ishiguro’s The Unconsoled" Contemporary Literature Vol 53. Iss 4(Fall 2001) Schater, Daniel L. “Specificty of Priming: A Cognitive Neuroscience Perspective” Nature Reviews Volume 5. November 2004. States, Bert O. “Dreams, Art and Virtual Worldmaking” ASD Journal of Dreaming. Art. 13. Wood, James. "The Unconsoled" The New Republic. Oct 16, 2003. Art Credits Salvaldor Dali Persistence of Memory James Koehnline Blue Graphic Charlotte LaRoy Miscommunication Edward Munch Scream Edward Munch Anxiety, 1894 Raphael Angels * Click on each image to link to the website the image was taken from * ]]> tag:blogs.qc.cuny.edu,2007:/blogs/dreams/ddeignan//229.2305 2007-04-18T04:55:03Z 2007-05-16T04:16:25Z

Doreen Deignan was born in Dublin, Ireland and came to New York when she was twenty-three "for a year". Many years later, she now calls Sunnyside, Queens her home. Combined with trips back across the pond at least once...

silent partner Doreen Deignan was born in Dublin, Ireland and came to New York when she was twenty-three "for a year". Many years later, she now calls Sunnyside, Queens her home. Combined with trips back across the pond at least once a year, she is happy to consider herself an Irish New Yorker. She loves the diversity of people and the energy of NY. One of the most satisfying thing she has done while living here is to go back to college through the CUNY ACE (Adult Collegiate Education) program for adults. So after 4 years of night and weekend classes, she is thrilled to be graduating in 2007 with an English degree from QC. Recommended Reading.............................. Click here to read Full Text of Paper : Download file Contact author : doreendub@hotmail.com ]]>