Comparison of the Flow of Post-War Reflective Literature in Germany and Japan: On the Example of Schlink and Kazuo Ishiguro
Abstract
Starting from a brief introduction to the history of Germany (West Germany) and Japan’s acceptance of the spiritual and cultural takeover from the United States after the Second World War, and taking the analysis of specific works by Schlink and Kazuo Ishiguro as an example, this article tries to analyse the commonality embodied by the two countries in their reflections on the history of the Second World War. Both countries have gone through the process of the collective mind from reticence to selective remembrance. The article then focuses on the mode of dealing with the memory of the war, both individually and collectively, in the post-war period, pointing out that this mode is also a typical strategy for reflecting on the war. After the development of reflective literature in the two countries has reached a new stage, it reflects the intergenerational differences and the moral dilemmas arising from that place and finally points out that the great influence of the United States in the post-war period has shaped the value logic system of the reflective literature of the two countries.
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