| Vidiahar Surajprasad Naipaul(1932-)is widely considered as one of the most talented literary figures of the Caribbean area,and is hailed as the greatest English writer of his generation by V.S.Pritchett,a well-known literary critic.Naipaul has devoted his whole life to literary writings and created works of various genres with abundant themes.The complex relationships between him and his residence Britain,his birthplace Trinidad and his motherland India all resurface in his novels,travelogues,autobiography,and essays.Among all of his works,the “India Trilogy”---An Area of Darkness(1964),India: A Wounded Civilization(1977)and India: A Million Mutinies Now(1990)---gives a truthful representation of his motherland India based on his three trips there.Though as the creations of an immigrant writer,Naipaul’s works remain controversial and have been the focus of many critics’ attention,the “India Trilogy”,however,has attracted little attention as a travelogue.Only several studies have been made on it from the perspectives of the themes of immigration,post-colonialism,diasporic cultures and historical writing.Based on a close reading of the three works in the trilogy and guided by the theories about identity and community,this thesis analyzes the theme of identification in them,explores the social,cultural and historical reasons of Naipaul’s identity confusion,tries to figure out the changes of Naipaul’s attitude towards India,interprets the development of his efforts in self-construction and explores the social significance of the trilogy.An Area of Darkness is the record of Naipaul’s first trip in India.It is Naipaul’s investigation and inspection of India from the perspective of a westerner.Yet owing to the strong influence of western education on Naipaul,as well as the underdeveloped state of the country resulting from the caste system and the traces of British colonizers left in this country,Naipaul finds it hard for him to develop close kinship with India;but rather,he tries to stay away from it due to his disgusted feelings and sense of isolation towards it.With this kind of feeling,Naipaul finds it difficult for him to establish an organic relationship with other members of this community,let alone taking it as the cultural foundation in his construction of self-identity.So Naipaul feels alienated from it,leading to his failure in the first attempt to construct his self-identity.Naipaul’s reflections on Indian society and culture including the backwardness of native Indian civilization during his second trip in India are written in India: A Wounded Civilization.In this book,Naipaul comes to understand India’s stagnation and backwardness as well as their historical reasons,which implies the recession of his western perspective and the restoration of his Indian position.His consciousness of joining the Indian community is awakened and his efforts in constructing his self-identity come to light.In India:A Million Mutinies Now in which his third trip in India is described,Naipaul tries to depict the revolt and rise of the Indian people.This book records the transformation of Naipaul’s attitude towards India,and taking a completely Indian stand,Naipaul listens to the stories of the people from all walks of life,trying to establish organic relationships with Indian culture,laying foundation for the construction of his self-identity in this country,making contributions to India in getting rid of poverty and backwardness,and building new community mechanism on its path towards civilization and progress.This thesis concludes that,under the circumstances of multiculturalism,the best way for Naipaul to end his rootless life and realize his identity construction is to learn,understand,tolerate and identify himself with the Indian civilization,and build a solid community with the people of the same motherland. |
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