Subject Construction in Cultural Structures: The Remains of the Day from the Perspective of Cultural Materialism

Journal of Literary Writing and Evaluation

JLWE, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2026, pp.29-38.

Print ISSN: 3078-8129; Online ISSN: 3104-5073

Journal homepage: https://www.lwejournal.com

DOI: Https://doi.org/10.64058/jlwe260104sccsr

文化结构中的主体建构
——文化唯物主义视域下的《长日留痕》

郑丹彤（Zheng Dantong），王桃花（Wang Taohua）

摘要：石黑一雄的小说《长日留痕》以回忆与现实交织的叙事策略，将人物置于多元历史语境之中，揭示了文化结构制约性与个体能动性之间的复杂张力。立足文化唯物主义理论视角，对小说所建构的特定历史时期文化结构与人物主体展开剖析，可揭示出，人物主体在受制于整体社会意识形态规训的同时，又以多元实践姿态参与文化结构的重塑与变迁。将小说置于其生成的历史文化场域中考察，能够清晰呈现作家挣脱保守文化结构的规训、借文学创作对文化结构展开批判性反思的主体性表达。石黑一雄以“怀旧”为叙事表象，既对保守怀旧主义展开批判性反思，亦对当代政治文化语境中个体的发展困境予以深度关切，由此完成了对文化结构现实意涵的文学书写。

关键词：《长日留痕》; 文化唯物主义; 文化结构；主体建构

作者介绍：郑丹彤，中山大学外国语学院博士研究生，研究方向：英国现当代文学。电邮：zhengdt5@mail2.sysu.edu.cn。王桃花（通讯作者），中山大学外国语学院教授，博士生导师，研究方向：英国现当代文学、空间研究、城市文学研究。电邮：wangth3@mail.sysu.edu.cn。

Title: Subject Construction in Cultural Structures: The Remains of the Day from the Perspective of Cultural Materialism

Abstract: Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel The Remains of the Day adopts a narrative strategy that interweaves memory and reality to situate its characters within a multifaceted historical context, which reveals the intricate tension between the constraining forces of cultural structures and the agency of individuals. From the theoretical point of cultural materialism, an analysis of the specific historical-period cultural structures and character subjects constructed in the novel reveals a nuanced dynamic. These character subjects, while subjected to the disciplinary power of the overarching social ideology, participate in the reshaping and transformation of cultural structures through diverse practical engagements. When analyzing the novel in its historical and cultural setting, the author’s subjective intention to break away from the shackles of conservative cultural structures and conduct critical reflection via literary creation is clearly shown. With “nostalgia” as a narrative disguise, Ishiguro not only offers critical reflections on conservative nostalgism but also expresses profound concern for the developmental dilemmas confronting individuals in contemporary political and cultural contexts, thereby achieving a literary depiction of the practical implications of cultural structures.

Keywords: The Remains of the Day; cultural materialism; cultural structure; subject construction

Author Biographies: Zheng Dantong, Ph.D. Candidate at the School of Foreign Languages, Sun Yat-sen University. Research Area: Modern and Contemporary British Literature. E-mail: zhengdt5@mail2.sysu.edu.cn. Wang Taohua (Corresponding Author), Professor and Ph.D. Supervisor at the School of Foreign Languages, Sun Yat-sen University. Research Areas: Modern and Contemporary British Literature, Spatial Studies, Urban Literature Studies. E-mail: wangth3@mail.sysu.edu.cn.