| William Faulkner, a Southern American, was one of 20th century's most influential and highly regarded novelists. This thesis mainly proceeds with the discussion of the novel Light in August and the embodiment of the post-colonialism in Light in August.As a complicated theory, post-colonialism criticizes the imperialistic colonial discourse in Europe and America by way of analyzing colonial literature. This dissertation analyzes the main character's identity in Faulkner's Light in August through post-colonialism, points out that it is the racial discrimination and social forces that cause Joe Christmas'ambiguous identity. Joe Christmas cannot use the hybridity strategy to fight against the racial system, and his attitude toward the society and the people is also partly responsible for his final death. The searching for identity shows the effects of poisoning and destruction of colonialist values on human beings, and the ambiguity of identity is also an accusation and satire of the racial system.This thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter One introduces post-colonialism. Through briefly introducing American post-colonial literature, and analyzing the definition of it and colonial discourse, it shows Faulkner as a post-colonial writer of colonialism, colonizers and the colonized in the south of the United States. Chapter Two introduces the background of Light in August. The novel is concerned with a period in which the classification of humanity has been intensified by World War I. Chapter Three analyzes the identity of Joe Christmas in the context of colonial discourse. It introduces colonial discourse, analyzes the indeterminacy of identity, and points out the way from indeterminacy to determinacy through colonial discourse, and shows that racism is a kind of subjective prejudice without any objective basis. Chapter Four explains that from Christmas's early life to his final death, we can see that the ambiguity and indeterminacy of identity is a revelation and criticism of the racialist system and colonialist values. Chapter Five shows the aspects of Joe Christmas's death: women's responsibility, racial discrimination and social forces. In a word, it is the colonialist values and Joe Christmas'own attitude toward society and people that lead to his final death. Chapter Six concludes that American South in the early twentieth century still uses race as a rationale to separate human beings'living environment, and any ambiguity in identity is not allowed. Joe Christmas'trying to know himself is doomed to end in failure and ruin. He doesn't know himself in his own mind, but outsiders want to shape him. His desire of wanting to know who he is leads to Christmas'disaster and causes his final death.On the whole, the uncertain identity displays that the essence of issue is not whether one really has black blood or not, it is about the poisoning and destructive effect of the traditional concept on human beings. It also expresses that racism is a kind of subjective prejudice without any objective basis. The ambiguous identity not only reveals and criticizes the racial system, but also strengthens the tragedy of people in the modern world... |
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