Coping Mechanisms from Cultural Displacement as Depicted in Kazuo Ishiguro's "An Artist of the Floating World"

Abstract

Literature is part of English as Second Language (ESL) teaching where students may find ways to better understand themselves and different things happening in their society. This study aimed to analyze the content of the postcolonial novel "An Artist of the Floating World" by the 2017 Nobel Prize for Literature awardee, Kazuo Ishiguro, for its depiction of coping mechanisms from cultural displacement. The qualitative research design and content analysis were used to systematically analyze the text. It was found that cultural displacement creates stress, fear, distress, and at some extreme levels, trauma. Displaced people may have varied attitudes toward these that led to coping. The coping mechanisms in the novel were minimizing and denying, repressing emotions, communicating and seeking support from family and friends, going into healthy habits, giving time for hobbies, and respecting the views and opinions of others. The study recommends a short story and drama also be explored for the same topics. Moreover, literature dealing with cultural displacement could be included in the reading lists of literature courses. The analysis would be the input for proposed supplementary learning and teaching material on cultural displacement to Filipino College students, particularly for BSED English majors, which could be used in Teaching Children and Adolescent Literature, Survey of Philippine Literature in English, and most particularly in Survey of Afro-Asian Literature.