An Artist of the Floating World (Kazuo Ishiguro)

To discuss An Artist of the Floating World with appropriate understanding, it is necessary to understand that the main character, Ono Masuji, is an unreliable narrator. That is, Ishiguro presents an ironic portrait of a character who thinks he is telling one story but is in fact telling quite another. Ono has a perception of himself and a memory of Japan before, during, and after World War II that is at variance with reality. His assessment and experience of his reputation and stature as an artist, as well as his idea of Japan's role in modern history, is far different from the truth, and this self-deception is the core of the narrative. Through the eyes of Ono, whose personal experience has included his position as something of a cultural icon, one can discern an artifact of cultural self-deception and self-justification masquerading as cultural virtue.

How this comes about in .An Artist of the Floating World. may be seen in the back-story of Ono's career. The war affected Ono's artistic career favorably. His account of his success as an artist in the years before and during the war is one that describes an artist in the mode of heroic materialism. That mode is perfectly in keepin

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Some common words found in the essay are:
French Ishiguro, Ishiguro Ono, Japan Pacific, Floating World, War II, Japan Ono, Indeed Ono's, Kazuo Ishiguro, Matsuda Ono, Ono Masuji, floating world, artist floating, artist floating world, ishiguro 1989, ono's artistic career, world war, war ii, ono's artistic, artistic career, japan's defeat, defeat japan, world war ii,
Approximate Word count = 1102
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)