Fantasy or Anti-Fantasy: Novel by Kazuo Ishiguro «The Buried Giant»

Abstract

Stable motifs of formula literature in Ishiguro’s novel undergo degeneration, as a result of which recognizable characters and topos of fantasy lose their sacred meaning: they reveal a profane or demonic status. The plot is based on an aimless ring quest, the structure of which is determined by the parable of the narrative and reflects the laws of postmodern culture, in which the paradigm of historical finalism and messianism is doubted.

Keywords

• degeneration
• desacralization
• quest
• topos
• fantasy