Download This PaperKazuo Ishiguro and 'Godi' Media: A Thematic Comparison of his Select Novels and the Post-2014 Indian Media
21 Pages Posted: 8 Feb 2024
Date Written: December 31, 2023
Abstract
In an interview, Kazuo Ishiguro highlights the central issue of his novels: failure of individuals not taking a stand against the tide of the times and instead goes with the flow, or zeitgeist, which recurs in contemporary times as well. As an interdisciplinary approach, this article situates An Artist of the Floating World and The Remains of the Day in the Post-2014 Indian “Godi” (lapdog) media, particularly in prime time ‘debates’. Swati Chaturvedi’s question, ‘has the free press failed in its first and only covenant, of holding power to account’, and, if so, how far, shall be explored. Parallels, for instance, between the protagonists, who betray their set ideals and the way anchors of prime time debates in India tend to do the same; and the debates between democracy and fascism in the three timeframes, this paper analyses the way most prominent individuals, instead of looking at significant issues objectively, however, grow into, play complicit roles and justify or rationalise what they do, did or are doing in the name of free speech, leading them to act not merely as propagators of majoritarianism and ‘fake news’ but ‘gatekeepers’ of information as well, three monsters that plague our democratic values.
Keywords: “Godi” media, zeitgeist, interdisciplinary, democracy, fascism, majoritarianism
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