Spatial Analysis On Identity Exploration In The English Patient

Michael Ondaatje is a prominent Canadian writer of the diaspora writing camp,and The English Patient(1992)establishes him as one of the transnational writers without borders.His works mainly focus on the issue of identity caused by cultural displacement in post-colonial context.Ondaatje’s writing features the typical postmodern writing style of fragmentation and uncertainty.The English Patient(1992)won the Booker prize in 1992,and was conferred with the best winner of the Booker prize of the past 50 years on July 9,2018.This thesis aims to employ the Spatial theory and the Third Space of Homi.K.Bhabha to analyze identity exploration in The English Patient(1992)and show readers how space in various forms transforms the identity of people who leave their home because of war.The displacement of the physical space results in the alteration of socioeconomic and sociocultural relationship,which creates cultural difference and incurs issue of identity.Psychological narrative and dialogue in the mental space gives people the impetus to explore the boundary of identity and construct new meaning of their identity.By adopting strategies of hybridization,ambivalence,and mimicry,the cultural other proceeds to deconstruct the hegemonic dominance and binary opposition between the self/other,white/non-white,and the center/marginalized in the Third Space where cultural boundary is blurred during interactions of heterogeneous culture.Space and identity are common issues in today’s era.With the globalization of economy,the flow of socioeconomic activities in geographic space promotes cultural exchanges,during which cultural differences emerge and lead to identity loss,such as the identity crisis of ethnic minorities and refugees,and the issue of digital identity in cyberspace.This thesis enhances readers to reflect on the impact of space on identity exploration of characters,and obtain the awareness of forging independent cultural identity.Meanwhile it encourages people to respect different culture,and eventually contributes to the construction of the Community of Shared Future for Mankind.