Marginalized Writing In African Novels

Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, a writer with multi-cultural background, won theNobel Prize in literature2001. He is an immigrant from Trinidad—the former Britishcolony and later immigrates to Britain. After taking up his writing career, he travelsall around the world, keeping a keen observation of the world issues, especially thoseconcerning the former British colonies. Due to his unique cultural background andpersonal experiences, unavoidably, Naipaul is labeled a marginalized writer. DorisLessing, another Nobel Prize Winner, occupies a unique position among the womenwriters in the20thcentury with works of variable genres and perspectives. Andmoreover due to her prolific works in which covered diversified artistic ideas, Lessinggets the Nobel Prize for Literature as the confirmation of her final achievement. LikeNaipaul, her unique life experiences and living environment make herself own thecultural temperament of the Marginal Man, while just this special disposition makesher novel writing tainted with the disposition of marginality.Marginality is the main feature in both Naipaul and Lessing’s literary creations.This thesis explores marginality in the two novels of the writers, A Bend in the Riverand The Grass is Singing, both set in the remote, marginalized Africa. It is to studythe marginalized features in the works, including the characters, African images,personalized writing styles in presenting theme of marginality. Besides, the thesis is tocompare the similarities and differences of the writers in their treatment of the themeof marginality from the perspective of post-colonial and feminist theories, trying tofind out what the setting Africa means to the writers respectively. Through the studyof the marginal features of the two novels, this thesis concludes that by adoptingmarginalized strategies and presenting highly marginalized images, the writers aim toarouse readers’ awareness of the predicaments of marginalized people in marginalizedregions of the world，lash their attacks on the dominating West countries in thepolitical, economic and cultural suppression and control of the colonies. Meatime,Margin is the ideal position for immigrant writers to speak, to write freely, and keep an objective, calm observation perspective.