The Postimperial Melancholia And Convivial Culture In NW

Zadie Smith(1975-)is one of the most prominent new-generation women writers in the contemporary British literary world.In 2000,she published her debut novel White Teeth which rapidly created a sensation in the British literature circle,and Smith herself also attracted the public attention.NW,Smith‘s fourth novel,is another hit in the literary field.This thesis studies NW from the perspective of multiculturalism and finds the interaction between the white and the colored.Thus,Felix,as a symbol of the convivial culture,who practices cohabitation and interaction in his daily life is the antidote to the post-imperial melancholia in England.This thesis is made up of five chapters: the first chapter,Introduction,provides some information concerning the author Zadie Smith and her novel NW as well as the literature review,theoretical framework,and thesis statement.The following three chapters constitute the main body of this thesis.The second chapter focuses on the conditions of Britain that are represented by two white British people in NW,Annie,and Tom.They are unable to face the loss of the Empire,live in needy conditions and show great hostility and alienation to the colored,which reflects the pathological characters of ―post-imperial melancholia‖ in Britain.Chapter three discusses the conditions of the colored immigrants in northwest London that is represented by Felix.He is also a symbol of the convivial culture and practices cohabitation and interaction in his daily life,which is the key idea of conviviality.And convivial culture works through the power of laughter.The place of the spring-up of convivial culture is in London‘s metropolitan space.Chapter four analyzes the interactions between Felix and Annie as well as Felix and Tom and shows that convivial culture serves as the antidote to post-imperial melancholia.The last part of the thesis gives a summary of the research by pointing out that the post-imperial England suffers from melancholia while Felix symbolizes the nation‘s transformational energy rising from the ―underworld‖.And the realistic significance of the thesis is also pointed out in this chapter.