Class
Article
College
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
English Department
Faculty Mentor
Christine Cooper-Rompato
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2016 novel The Buried Giant has a history of causing contention over how it should be read. Literature, fiction, fantasy, historical fantasy, and other forms have all be the jumping off point for many analysts, but this paper argues that perhaps the best way to read this work is as an analysis of Western literary canon and violence through the lens of oral folklore. Using Axel Olrik’s Epic Laws of Folk Narrative or sagenwelt offers insights into how the novel functions as an examination of characters bound up in predestined narratives due to the nature of their original historical context, and further deconstructs those narratives to prove points about personal agency and cyclical violence.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-8-2022 12:00 AM
Included in
In Service to the Narrative: The Buried Giant Through a Folklore Lens
Logan, UT
Kazuo Ishiguro’s 2016 novel The Buried Giant has a history of causing contention over how it should be read. Literature, fiction, fantasy, historical fantasy, and other forms have all be the jumping off point for many analysts, but this paper argues that perhaps the best way to read this work is as an analysis of Western literary canon and violence through the lens of oral folklore. Using Axel Olrik’s Epic Laws of Folk Narrative or sagenwelt offers insights into how the novel functions as an examination of characters bound up in predestined narratives due to the nature of their original historical context, and further deconstructs those narratives to prove points about personal agency and cyclical violence.