Maternal Ambivalence and Repressed Guilt: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills

Celin Selvakumari K; Dr Wilfin John

doi:10.70396/

Articles

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2026): ILN Journal: Indian Literary Narratives

Maternal Ambivalence and Repressed Guilt: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills

Celin Selvakumari K^▸^▾
Dr Wilfin John ^▸^▾

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Submitted: 31 March 2026
Published: 2025-03-30

Abstract

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References

Bai, Liyun. “Nagasaki’s Scar: The Formation, Reference, and Transformation of Nuclear Memory in Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills.” Journal of Postcolonial Writing, vol. 54, no. 2, 2018, pp. 236-249.
Chodorow, Nancy. The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. University of California Press, 1978.
Dean, Dominic. “Migration Crisis and Conspiracy in Kazuo Ishiguro.” English Studies, vol. 103, no. 8, 2022, pp. 111-1134.
Freud, Sigmund. The Ego and the Id. 1923. Translated by Joan Riviere, edited by James Strachey, vol. 19, Hogarth Press, 1961.
Huang, Yi-yao. “The Interpretation of Parent-Child Competitive Anxiety in A Pale View of Hills.” World Literature Studies, 2025, pp. 1-12.
Ishiguro, Kazuo. A Pale View of Hills. Faber and Faber, 1982.
Klein, Melanie. “Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms.” Envy and Gratitude and Other Works 1946–1963, Hogarth Press, 1975, pp. 1-24.
Marrouchi, Mustapha. “Wait upon Ishiguro, Englishness, and Class.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, vol. 15, no. 7, 2013.
Molino, Michael. “Traumatic Memory and Narrative Isolation in Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 53, no. 4, 2012, pp. 322-336.
Shen, Anni. “Reviving from the Archive: Kazuo Ishiguro’s Modern Ghost Stories and Memory Writing.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 66, no. 3, 2024, pp. 356-369.

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Keywords

psychic defence mechanisms
contradictions of mothering
splitting
trauma and repression
maternal guilt

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How to Cite

Celin Selvakumari K, and Dr Wilfin John. “Maternal Ambivalence and Repressed Guilt: A Psychoanalytic Reading of Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills”. ILN Journal: Indian Literary Narratives, vol. 3, no. 1, Mar. 2025, pp. 174-83, https://doi.org/10.70396/.

[1] Bai, Liyun. “Nagasaki’s Scar: The Formation, Reference, and Transformation of Nuclear Memory in Kazuo Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills.” Journal of Postcolonial Writing, vol. 54, no. 2, 2018, pp. 236-249.

[2] Chodorow, Nancy. The Reproduction of Mothering: Psychoanalysis and the Sociology of Gender. University of California Press, 1978.

[3] Dean, Dominic. “Migration Crisis and Conspiracy in Kazuo Ishiguro.” English Studies, vol. 103, no. 8, 2022, pp. 111-1134.

[4] Freud, Sigmund. The Ego and the Id. 1923. Translated by Joan Riviere, edited by James Strachey, vol. 19, Hogarth Press, 1961.

[5] Huang, Yi-yao. “The Interpretation of Parent-Child Competitive Anxiety in A Pale View of Hills.” World Literature Studies, 2025, pp. 1-12.

[6] Ishiguro, Kazuo. A Pale View of Hills. Faber and Faber, 1982.

[7] Klein, Melanie. “Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms.” Envy and Gratitude and Other Works 1946–1963, Hogarth Press, 1975, pp. 1-24.

[8] Marrouchi, Mustapha. “Wait upon Ishiguro, Englishness, and Class.” CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, vol. 15, no. 7, 2013.

[9] Molino, Michael. “Traumatic Memory and Narrative Isolation in Ishiguro’s A Pale View of Hills.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 53, no. 4, 2012, pp. 322-336.

[10] Shen, Anni. “Reviving from the Archive: Kazuo Ishiguro’s Modern Ghost Stories and Memory Writing.” Critique: Studies in Contemporary Fiction, vol. 66, no. 3, 2024, pp. 356-369.