Analysing The Subversive Writing Techniques In The Enigma Of Arrival

As a summative work and a master piece by V. S. Naipaul, the2001Nobel Prizewinner, The Enigma of Arrival makes a record of the journey of “I” in a world ofmixed identities and hybrid cultures through space displacements, and throughsubversions of binary oppositions such as certainty and uncertainty of the theme,clarity and ambiguity of narration, as well as the advantaged and the disadvantaged ofdignity and identity. Hardly any researches in the past are conducted from Derrida’ssubversive writing techniques, in this thesis, the author attempts to combine Derrida’sthoughts of subverting “hierarchical oppositions” with Naipaul’s innovative writingtechniques in The Enigma of Arrival to have an exploration of the opening artistictechniques that have subverted pairs of binary oppositions. The subversive writingtechniques have made contributions to the novel’s entire ambiguous atmosphere andeffectively presented readers a picture of a hybrid, mixed and disordered society.Meanwhile, it is expected that through this thesis, readers can have a betterunderstanding of V. S. Naipaul’s masterful commanding of language and textarrangements as well as his mixed identities.This thesis is composed of six parts. The introduction section mainly introducesNaipaul and his The Enigma of Arrival, the literature review and the structure of thisthesis. The second to the fifth part is the central part of this thesis, analysing thesubversive writing techniques which are reflected by subversions of three pairs ofbinary oppositions. And the last part is about the significance of this thesis, noting thatit is not only helpful to have a better understanding of the author and his work, butalso provides those, who live in a world of hybrid cultures with multiculturalidentities an opening cross-cultural worldview.