Hybridity And Identity

Olaudah Equiano is considered as a leading writer of the 18th century British abolition literature. His work The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Written by Himself not only had a great influence on the abolition of British slave trade but also became a classic literature text on the abolitionist movement. By relating his personal experience and growth, Equiano reveals the inherent ambivalence and conflicts in the colonial culture and the transformation of the Black's identity as slaves under the colonial cultural environment.With Homi Bhabha's Hybridity theory as its theroretical framework, this thesis attempts to analyze Equiano's identity construction from the perspective of some important concepts of the theory, such as mimicry, ambivalence, and the Third Space. As an eminent figure in the academic field of post-colonialism study, Homi Bhabha holds that by mimicking, the colonized can demonstrate the inner ambivalence and contradiction within the colonial discourse and thus the illusion of its superiority; Bhabha also believes cultural hybridity necessitates the challenge and revision of the colonial discourse by the colonized as a marginal group. Equiano himself is none the less a symbol of such cultural hybrid whose experience has created the opportunity and rights for Black slaves as the "others" to build an independent self.This thesis consists of three chapters. Chapter One discusses how Equiano's strategy of mimicry helps him put on a persona which frees the readers from the dominate culture, the background of their vigilance and potential resistance, and thus lays the foundation for his further challenge and critique of the colonial discourses. Chapter Two attempts to demonstrate Equiano's attack against the biased stereotypes and the conventions concerning the complexions of races. By comparing the two cultures, Equiano refutes the alleged inferiority of Blacks and assumed the superiority of Whites, and while revealing the ambivalence inherent in Western culture, Equiano also develops his own new and hybrid identity. Chapter Three focuses on Equiano's transformation from a Black slave to a free man and the formation of his hybrid identity. This hybrid identity demonstrates the existence of the cultural hybridity in the Third Space which serves as an efficient means to break cultural boundaries efficiently and to promote the interpenetration of different cultures.This thesis concludes that, with its efforts in slashing the cultural hierarchy and advocating the equilibrium between races and cultures, Equiano's narrative not only played a positive role in promoting the antislavery movement in the 18th century, but also illustrates the necessity and importance of pursuing harmonious coexistence of different cultures with different values in today's world.