Thinking Activity: An Artist of the Floating World

 Hello friends !

 I am Bhavna Sosa and I am a student of the department of English MKBU. This blog is about thinking activity on the 'An Artist of the Floating World' by Kazuo Ishiguro. This task is assigned by Pro.Dr. Dilip Barad sir.

An Artist of the Floating World, by Kazuo Ishiguro, is set in Japan in the years just after the Second World War – which ended with the country’s surrender. It is narrated by Masuji Ono, a widower with two grown up daughters. His only son died in the hostilities. Resulting changes in the country are a challenge for the older generation as they watch their offspring embrace more western ideals.

1) '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?

Because Lanterns in the novel are associated with Ono’s teacher Mori-san. They represent the fleeting beauty and warmth of nightlife as well as the transience of the traditional way of life in Japan, which vanishes after the war.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.

2) write in brief a review of the film based on the novel.

In brief a review of the film based on the novel. An artist of the floating world in the face of the misery in his homeland,the artist Masuji Ono was unwilling to devote his art solely to the celebration of physical beauty. Instead, he put his work in the service of the imperialist movement that led Japan into World war ll.

3)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).

 Ono is the protagonist of An Artist of the Floating World, and is to be an acclaimed, significant artist. But while Ono is technically adept as a painter, his understanding of the world-and art’s role in it-is unsophisticated. Lacking a strong personal vision for his art and its message.That art serves no purpose other than to drive the artist into a life of self-absorption and depravity is presented through Ono’s father whose prediction that such a life will befall Ono ironically comes true for a time.The novel further explores the dire consequences which befell artists whose art is viewed as divergent. These five perspectives uses of the art.

 4) What is the relevance of this novel to our times?

  The novel's title 'An artist of the floating world' is based on the literal translation of Ukiyo-e, a word referring to the Japanese art of prints. Therefore, it can be read as "a printmaker" or "an artist living in a changing world," given both Ono's limited understanding and the dramatic changes his world, Japan in the first half of the twentieth century, has undergone in his lifetime.The title also refers to an artistic genre. Ono's master is especially interested in depicting scenes from the pleasure district adjacent to the villa in which he and his students live. 

Ono mentions the ephemeral nature of the floating world that could be experienced during each night. His master experiments with innovative softer Western-style painting techniques, rejecting the hard black outlining that was considered more traditional. Under the influence of right-wing political ideas about tradition, Ono becomes estranged from his master and forges his own career. He feels gleeful when his master's paintings fell into disfavor during a return to the use of more traditional bold lines in the paintings used for nationalistic posters.