Conflict Or Fusion:The Unknown Future

As a white English-speaking South African writer, Nadine Gordimer views the intricate social realities of South Africa as the main original source of her literary creation. Her works have deep political and literary implications. She was the first South African who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature(1991) for July’s People. The novel has attracted wide attention from critics and been hotly discussed from different perspectives since its publication. However, few comments have been made on it from identity crisis systematically. Based on postcolonial perspective, the thesis attempts to have a detailed analysis of identity crisis of the major characters in the novel.Made up of five parts, the thesis starts with an introduction, in which the general information of Nadine Gordimer, her novel July’s People and the literary criticisms on it are reviewed. Meanwhile, the theoretical rationale of postcolonialism and the purpose are also presented in the thesis.Chapter One focuses on the social identity of white and black protagonists in the interregnum. Because of the changed environment, on one hand, the Smales family has lost their white power and authority, and their social identity has been shifted from Self to Other. On the other hand, July regains his identity as a real "people", and becomes the master of the Smaleses.Chapter Two examines the gender identity issues in the novel. Relationship between the white husband and wife has changed due to the lost economic and social status. And the heroine Maureen even tries to seduce July in order to keep her former status when she cannot be protected by her powerless husband. This displays that gender identity changes with one’s power and authority.Chapter Three discusses the culture identity of the protagonists. White South Africans are unwilling to access to black culture. However, the Smales’s three children bear the load of cultural hybridity in the novel, representing a egalitarian future for the whites in South Africa. Blacks in South Africa must rebuild their status as ones with independent consciousness to embrace their future. The conclusion serves to summarize the whole thesis. Through the analysis of the identity crisis of the protagonists, July’s People offers a comprehensive depiction of postcolonial realities and shows the most profound thought about the effects of colonialism. With the inevitable collapse of apartheid, white South Africans will have to adjust to the new social realities and try to make the outlines of a new identity.