A Study On Identity Anxiety In Swing Time From The Perspective Of Landscape Theory

Zadie Smith(1975-),a leading black writer in contemporary England,occupies a pivotal position in the modern English literary arena and has won many critical literary awards considering her works’ profound themes,artful plots,and detached writing skills.Identity is a central theme in Zadie Smith’s works,and her latest book,Swing Time,published in 2016,also explores issues of class,race,and gender identities.The novel focuses on the identity anxiety faced by the underclass,black people,and women in different landscapes,and it explores how the dilemmas can be solved by changing their landscapes,which effectively shows the difficulties and struggles experienced by the vulnerable groups in the background of the metropolis.Guided by landscape theory,this thesis explores the identity anxiety in Zadie Smith’s Swing Time in different landscapes and the ways to relieve it,revealing the powerful influence of landscapes in one’s identity construction.There are five chapters in this thesis.The first chapter is the introduction part,which introduces Zadie Smith and her novel Swing Time,reviews the foreign and domestic scholars’ research on Smith and this novel,and summarizes this thesis’ s theoretical framework and main viewpoints.The following three chapters are the main body of the thesis.The second chapter mainly expounds on the class identity anxiety presented in the residential landscape,discussing the depressed and poor living state of the underclass and how they relieve the class identity anxiety by changing the residential landscape.The third chapter analyzes the racial identity anxiety of black people in the urban landscape.It discusses the racial discrimination and segregation suffered by black people in British society and the relieving process on streets and campuses.The fourth chapter analyzes the female identity anxiety caused by the male gaze in the body landscape and how the anxiety is relieved through self-control and self-appreciation of the body landscape.The fifth chapter is the conclusion of this thesis,which summarizes the main points and points out the positive effect and social significance of this thesis on people suffering from identity anxiety.This thesis aims to analyze the issue of identity anxiety in Swing Time under the guidance of landscape theory.In the residential landscape,the urban landscape,and the body landscape,as socially vulnerable groups,the underclass,black people,and women suffer from class identity anxiety,racial identity anxiety,and gender identity anxiety respectively.However,the influence of landscape on identity and the fluidity of identity make it possible to relieve identity anxiety.Zadie Smith’s discussion of this novel not only arouses readers’ attention to vulnerable groups but also deepens society’s understanding of the urgent situation to relieve identity anxiety,reflecting Smith’s close attention to the identity issue and her good intentions.