A Persistent Explorer

Nowadays, the research concerning culture identity has become a hot topic in the contemporary literary field. As the number of the international immigrants is dramatically increasing, it is almost inevitable for them to be confronted with the problem of culture identity, as they are living in the mixed cultures. How to locate themselves in a quite new environment is growing into an urgent problem for them to handle. V. S. Naipaul, who will be discussed in the thesis, is a typical one among these immigrants. He is an Indian English writer, and was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 2001. He was born in Trinidad, a small island country in the Caribbean area, brought up in a strong Indian atmosphere and received his higher education in England. These complicated experiences prompt him to make continuous and profound exploration into his culture identity. This thesis is developed around Naipaul's life, trying to shed some light on his confusion about his culture identity by analyzing his works in different periods. Naipaul begins his spiritual journey from a small island, then expands his vision to larger areas such as India and Britain, and eventually is invested with the characteristics of a cosmopolitan. What he has done has gone far beyond the narrow meaning of nationalism, and he voices his feelings on the world stage in his special way. In the tide of globalization, the explorations Naipaul has made about his culture identity may, most probably, offer some insights for the people who have been living in the alien cultures so that they will have a deeper understanding toward such questions as how to face the different cultures and locate themselves in the coexistence of many cultures and how to make their life meaningful in the new environment.The thesis is composed of six parts with an introduction and a conclusion included. The introduction is a survey of Naipaul's background as well as the research having been done on him both at home and abroad, with the emphasis on the term"culture identity". Different scholars have offered different understandings about it. Though it is hard to come to an exact definition, still, these interpretations provide us with many inspirations to get closer to the truth of the term. Based on the understanding of this term, the research on Naipual's culture identity is carried out.The first chapter deals with Naipaul's Trinidadian culture identity. The attitude he takes toward his birthplace is in contradiction. Despite the fact that he is dependent on this island for his writing materials and inspirations, he cannot identify with his birthplace for its cultural emptiness and sterility, which have been ruthlessly exposed in his works. In this part, Naipaul's ambivalent attitude toward the Trinidadian culture is displayed by analyzing his masterpiece, A House for Mr. Biswas and a short story collection Miguel Street.The second chapter analyzes his journey in India. Since he cannot take root in his birthplace, he casts his eyes onto India, in the hope of getting a tranquil and peaceful mind. However, the tour in India smashes his dream of finding the spiritual home there. He cannot reach identification with the Indian culture, for what comes into his eyes is all backwardness, poverty, and disorder which, in Naipaul's opinion, has constituted the whole India. In spite of the alienation from the Indian culture, he is inseparable from it. Naipual still remains in dilemma for his identity. This chapter makes use of one of Naipaul's travelogue, An Area of Darkness to disclose his love-hate relationship with this country.The third chapter focuses on the analysis of Naipaul's life in Britain. He lives in Britain and enjoys the modern civilization, which is able to provide the incomparable material conditions for him, and that seems to be what he wants. Nonetheless, he feels at a loss to locate himself culturally in Britain and is frequently overwhelmed with alienation, displacement, and loneliness. Based on the analysis of Naipual's novel The Mimic Man, this part conveys to the readers his negative attitude toward the British culture and satirizes severely the blind mimicry of the colonial people.The fourth chapter is devoted to the explorations into his culture identity of a world citizen. Since he cannot be rooted in Trinidad, India and Britain, he sets his foot on a long journey through the whole world to meet different cultures and different peoples. He travels extensively on the world stage and becomes a cosmopolitan with no country which can be recognized as his own. However, even in this vast area, he still has a touch of bewilderment about his culture identity. Maybe, Naipaul's spiritual journey will last forever. This idea has been expressed fully in the novel A Bend in the River, which presents to the readers Naipaul's agony and anxiety about his culture identity through the successful depiction of Salim, the protagonist in this novel.The thesis comes to its final part by pointing out the meaning of Naipaul's exploration into his culture identity. Naipaul has been looking for his spiritual residence and so-called universal civilization. The result, however, is disappointing. Maybe, he is destined to be"a literary circumnavigator"[1], which in some way, helps convert these painstaking explorations into an ample source of his writings. As for the immigrants living in the mixed cultures at the time of globalization, the systematic discussion abut Naipual's culture identity may enable the readers to understand more profoundly the life of this particular group of people,whose problems are likely to draw more attention from the outside world. Meanwhile, the thesis intends to offer a new perspective for the future research on Naipaul.