ABSTRACT

This article argues that the adaptation of Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel The Remains of the Day (1989) by Merchant Ivory evokes nostalgia as a trope that glorifies the imperial past of the British through portraying extravagantly both the butler protagonist’s professionalism and his attachment to the country house (Darlington Hall), one of the symbolic places used in heritage cinema. In the novel, Stevens’ sense of nostalgia is presented as a sensual impetus or a blueprint to revisit the past to construct a more insightful understanding of the self. Analysing both uses of nostalgia in the source text and its adaptation, this article reveals that the Merchant Ivory adaptation (1993) limits its nostalgic perspective to depicting the idealised imperial past, and it does not evoke any dissident conception of nostalgia for the audience as the novel provides through its protagonist’s retrospection for the reader. Discussing the politics and contextual background of the adaptation, it concludes that Merchant Ivory’s film version of Ishiguro’s novel exemplifies characteristics of heritage cinema to convey dominantly conservative ideologies such as elitism and nationalism as common norms upheld in Thatcher’s Britain.

摘要

本文认为，石黑一夫的小说《每日遗迹》的改编作品《商人象牙》（1989年）由象牙色引起，是一种怀旧之词，通过夸张地刻画管家主角的专业素养和对乡村别墅（达林顿音乐厅）的依附（达林顿音乐厅），这是一种荣耀英国帝国主义的寓言，这是传统电影中使用的象征性场所。在小说中，史蒂文斯的怀旧感是感性的推动力或蓝图，用以重温过去，以建立对自我的更深刻的理解。通过分析源文本中的怀旧用法及其改编，本文揭示出《商人象牙》改编（1993年）将其怀旧视角限于描绘理想化的帝国过去，并且并未引起观众对怀旧的异议观念。小说通过主人公的回顾为读者提供。