The Re-inscription Of History And Identity In The English Patient

The English Patient is Michael Ondaatje's most successful novel and won the Booker Prize on its publication in 1992. Structurally complicated and thematically manifold, this novel is a meditation on many aspects of human experiences, among which the inscription of identity and history is the most fascinating and worthy of study. With Gramsci, Guha, Spivak, and Said's methods of restoring the subalterns'subject-position in their own histories, this thesis intends to examine how Ondaatje reconstructs the histories and identities of the subalterns represented by the four characters in The English Patient. Chapter One demonstrates the means by which Ondaatje rewrites the form of the official history, including fragmented stories, mixed points of view, and patched text. Chapter Two analyzes Ondaatje's version of unofficial history in the form of literature, whose importance is highlighted by the characters'dissatisfaction. Chapter Three explores the four characters'identities as subalterns to discuss the process of their realization of their own identities against certain historical, social, and political backgrounds.In The English Patient, Ondaatje reinscribes the subalterns'histories and identities to promote multiculturalism and oppose the practice to differentiate between people according to their language, gender, property, skin color, etc. in the official history. His idea is helpful for people in the globalized world to deal properly with the problems caused by such differentiation.