| Paradise(1994)is the masterpiece of Abdulrazak Gurnah(1948-)who is a British novelist born in Tanzania.It once was shortlisted for the prestigious Booker Prize and the Whitbread Book Prize,and received the most praises from readers abroad and academic circle.Centering on the trading relationship between the colonized coast of Africa and the unexplored interior of the continent before World War I,Paradise tells the rough growing up experience of the protagonist Yusuf,a twelve-year-old boy who is kept as a rehani by an Arab merchant.After he undergoes a drifting life from place to place and several tragic love experiences as well as an intellectual awakening that prompt him to break through the life of being kept as a slave and to live no longer ignorantly,he runs to the German military troops.Domestic and foreign researches on Paradise mainly focus on its narrative methods(including metaphorical narrative,business travel narrative),colonialism,and the intertextuality between Paradise and other works,as well as the influence of bilingual writing on the translation of this work.Although there is a small number of studies involving the identity theme in Paradise,so far few scholars have studied Yusuf’s identity construction in Paradise from the perspective of gaze.In Paradise,however,various staring scenes appear many times.In Paradise,Gurnah creates a panoramic prison-like garden.In the garden,there are mirrors placed on tops of the trees which function as lookout towers for the Mistress of the house to stare at Yusuf’s appearance and to observe every single movement Yusuf makes.When Yusuf lives in Aziz’s house,adobes at Hamid’s store,or travels with the caravan on their trade to the interior,men and women all are attracted by his beauty whenever he shows up.The eye of desire they cast on Yusuf and the eye of power they all want to take him for their own use fully demonstrate the existence of gaze.In a word,Yusuf is constantly exposed to the public gaze due to his lowborn family background,illiteracy and beauty.Moreover,systematic research on the problem of Yusuf’s identity construction from the perspective of gaze is lacking at home and abroad.In light of the theoretical and textual analyses,the purpose of this thesis is to elaborate on gaze and counter-gaze in the novel in order to investigate Yusuf’s identity construction based on gaze theory.This thesis consists of six chapters,including introduction,literature review,body and conclusion.The first chapter mainly introduces life of Abdulrazak Gurnah,his major works and awards he received as well as purpose of the thesis.The second chapter elaborates current research about Gurnah and his works,especially his Paradise,at home and abroad,and development of the gaze theory.The body part including Chapter Three to Five explains the construction of Yusuf’s identity from the following three perspectives.Chapter Three interprets the initial identity of Yusuf.Yusuf is born in a humble family-his father is unable to repay his debts,and his mother has no income from work.He has a beautiful appearance and an ignorant mind.He hardly completes religious education and is Koran illiterate.Chapter Four analyzes what are the gazes that cause the identity predicaments for Yusuf.Yusuf simultaneously bears the erotic gaze from females and males,the power gaze from the rich and the ruling classes and the panoptic gaze from Allah and His people.Due to his beauty,Yusuf becomes the object of appreciation and attention by both females and males.Because of his father’s being in debt to businessman Aziz,Yusuf is used to pay off the debts,and then becomes the rehani of Aziz.After that,during his journey with Aziz,Yusuf also is taken hostage by Chatu-Sultan of the tribe-during his trade journey to the interior.On account of his illiteracy,Yusuf is ridiculed as a savage by believers who regard themselves as the civilized.In these ways,Yusuf becomes the victim of different gazes,and his body is materialized and functionalized in the gaze.The multiple gazes further lead to the loss of his subjective consciousness and his sense of belonging.Chapter Five discusses how Yusuf breaks his identity predicaments brought by the triple gaze and reconstructs his subject identity.First of all,he obstructs the erotic gaze of females and males through visual avoidance and active looking back,so that their voyeuristic desire cannot be satisfied.Then,through silent response and active viewing in the gaze process,Yusuf makes a subversion of the position of subject and object so as to actively resist the oppressive gaze of power.He gets rid of the ideological shackles and further reestablishes his subjective consciousness.Finally,through assiduous learning and active self-improving,Yusuf turns himself from a Koran illiterate to an outstanding student of the imam,so that people who used to make fun of him look at him with new eyes.After a series of struggles from being “the gaze bearer” to being “the gazer”,Yusuf gradually gets rid of dependence upon others and becomes an independent individual.The conclusion points out that Yusuf’s identity predicaments are inseparable from the various gazes imposed on him by the external conditions.The gaze from gender,class and religion,including voyeuristic desire,power projection and discipline,makes him gradually lose his subjectivity.Only through the dual independence of behavior and consciousness,subverting the gaze bearer position and seizing the initiative,can Yusuf break the shackles of his identity predicaments,recognize and reestablish himself as a subject.In addition,this thesis has certain enlightening effects to the marginalized groups in modern society represented by Yusuf who are caught in a cruel society and are struggling to pursue their subjectivity.Therefore,the research has some practical significance. |
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