Division Or Connection-An Analysis Of Identity Crisis Of The Characters In Dinesen's Out Of Africa From The Postcolonial Perspective

Isak Dinesen (1885-1962), pseudonym of Karen Blixen, is one of the greatest writer in Denmark. She has until her last days published several books, short stories and long stories. Out of Africa, Isak's highly-valued autobiographical novel, gains great recognition in western countries. In 1985, the film based on the book Out of Africa, won Oscar Prize, and brings her international fame. Enjoying great fame in literal world internationally after publishing of Out of Africa, Isak comes into her highly creative period.Based on the theories in Orientalism written by Edward Said, Can the Subaltern Speak written by Spivak, and attached to Africa's social realities in the 20th century, the dissertation is set to have a detailed analysis of the major characters in the novel from a perspective of postcolonism, aiming to illustrate the relations between Europe and Africa in the 20th century. It will sketch a picture of African's living status in the 21th century as well. The dissertation will divide the characters in the novel into two categories, colonizer and colonized, to explain that both of two groups will be trapped in the situation of double identity. As members of western civilization, Isak Dinesen, along with other colonizers such as Denys and Berkeley, can not help having the ideology of western superiority and non-western inferiority. As advanced intellectuals, they show their love and sincere appreciation for Africa, which demonstrates their advanced aspects different from other colonizers. With double consciousness of colonialism and anti-colonialism, they get trapped into dilemma of double identity. While subaltern others also experience double identity under the influence of the cultural colonization, they show their longing for western civilization, but they love their people and appreciate their tradition. Because they can not be understood and heard, failing to represent themselves in their subaltern'position, and because the influence of the natives" culture becomes weak for some natives, the natives are easily influenced by so-called western civilization, which makes them get trapped in the double identity and eventually leading to identity crisis.A research into Out of Africa from the angle of postcolonialism may set a historical background and thus make readers understand better about the implied social significance and identity crisis in some people caused by inequality in different races. Considering the perspective of the research into the work, textual analysis will be used. Out of Africa features in plain language and plot, this dissertation, however, is to set the stories into a historical environment and use postcolonialism to analyze the characters in the book. By doing so, it is expected that readers can probe into the cause of identity crisis of some characters in the book and Isak'implied wish to connect between Europe and Africa behind the accounts of her experience in Africa.