Caught Between The "Other" And Self

The thesis, enlightened by the theory of the “Other” in postcolonial literature criticism,analyzes three aboriginal characters depicted in Carpentaria from the aboriginal narrativeperspective and language depiction of its writer Alexis Wright, and it discusses how aboriginesin Australia are reduced to the “Other” under white rulers’ domination and oppression as wellas the differences they present when holding on to and realizing self, thus revealing the puzzlesand helplessness of aborigines who have double identities between the “Other” and self, anddisclosing the tough dilemmas they face when identifying themselves in the “Other” fate.The “Other” and self is an important topic in postcolonial criticism, and the criticismemphasizes the antagonistic relation among different kinds of culture. Edward Said inOrientalism discloses and criticizes the complete “Other” and the marginal “Other”. He holdsthat the two kinds of “Other” are the invasion of eastern culture and the distortion of easterners’images by the western scholars who attempt to maintain the colonial hegemony of the westernbourgeoisie. Homi Bhabha further develops the “Other” theory. To his mind, the differences ofculture make the mutual “Other” generated in the cultural hybridity, and the collusion betweenthe elite in the minority groups and the colonists in the West causes the double “Other” to occur.Gayatri Spivak points out that the subaltern suppressed by the imperialist culture loses theirright of discourse, and she introduces sex into the postcolonial context for discussion creatively,deeply disclosing the living conditions of third world females as the multiple “Other” in respectof sex, class and race.Australian well-known aboriginal writer Alexis Wright creates three aboriginal characterswith distinctive personalities for readers in her masterpiece Carpentaria: Angel Day, NormalPhantom and Will Phantom. Under the local white rulers’ cruel squeeze, they live a very poorand miserable life. When facing white rulers’ ruthless domination and various dark sidesexisting in society, their hearts are filled with limitless sufferings and puzzles. Every characterhas to flounder in the rough fate, and try to look for his or her position in the society whereaborigines are marginalized. Firstly, the thesis introduces the significance of the research andelaborates the theoretic basis in literature review. Secondly, in terms of postcolonial culturalcriticism, it analyzes the three characters’ the “Other” images under the western political andcultural domination, the self awareness they present in the tragic fate as well as their sense ofrevolt and contradictory psychology in the serious conflict between their national culture andthe western culture. Lastly, the thesis analyzes the similarities in the three characters as the“Other” images, and it points out that they all have deep emotion at their national culture andhate the western white rulers’ cruel domination. Meanwhile, it expounds the differences inthem in the aspects of the “Other” images, self awareness and rebellious psychology, disclosing that the three characters’ wretched fate originates from the western rulers’ colonial dominationand oppression suffered by marginalized aboriginal people.Through the analysis of the language description and writing style in Carpentaria, theresearch aims at enabling readers to understand white rulers’ ferocity and to appreciate thewriter’s deep sympathy for aboriginal inhabitants better. Meanwhile, it aims to make readerscomprehend the double torture tolerated by aboriginal people physically and mentally as wellas the puzzles and loss experienced by aborigines during the process of their self-positioningmore profoundly.