Class and Symbolic Violence in The Remains of the Day
Abstract
Kazuo Ishiguros The Remains of the Day serves as a critical lens to examine the mechanisms of power asymmetry and internalized
class stratification in interwar Britain. Through the unreliable narration of Stevens, an aging butler, the novel deconstructs aristocratic hegemony by analyzing three dimensions: hierarchical codification in linguistic rituals, dissonance between aristocratic and servant, and the political
economy of domestic agency. Employing Pierre Bourdieus theory of symbolic violence alongside Foucaults biopolitics and Spivaks subaltern studies, this study reveals how language, spatial politics, and performative compliance perpetuate power imbalances, and also reveals the
persistence of hierarchical structures in modern societies.
class stratification in interwar Britain. Through the unreliable narration of Stevens, an aging butler, the novel deconstructs aristocratic hegemony by analyzing three dimensions: hierarchical codification in linguistic rituals, dissonance between aristocratic and servant, and the political
economy of domestic agency. Employing Pierre Bourdieus theory of symbolic violence alongside Foucaults biopolitics and Spivaks subaltern studies, this study reveals how language, spatial politics, and performative compliance perpetuate power imbalances, and also reveals the
persistence of hierarchical structures in modern societies.
Keywords
The Remains of the Day; Kazuo Ishiguro; symbolic violence
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PDFReferences
[1] Bhabha, Homi K. The Location of Culture. Routledge, 1994.
[2] Bourdieu, Pierre. Language and Symbolic Power. Edited by John B. Thompson, translated by Gino Raymond and Matthew Adamson,
Harvard UP, 1991.
[3] Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Translated by Alan Sheridan, Vintage Books, 1995.
[4] Ishiguro, Kazuo. The Remains of the Day. Faber and Faber, 1989.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.70711/rcha.v3i1.6544
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