Nationalism And Its Transcendence In Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient

The English Patient, as Ondaatje's most acknowledged fictional work to date, is characterized by intertwined themes. Critics here in China and abroad have interpreted this novel from various angles, such as the issue of identity, masculinity and femininity in the novel, and some political implications with regard to its seemingly abrupt ending. A heated debate was carried out among many critics on whether the ending was well prepared for by the novel's narrative process, and this is what triggered off my tentative study on nationalism and its transcendence in the novel.Various as the theories on nationalism are, they can be grouped into two types: those emphasizing the positive influence of nationalism, and those focusing on the destructive force contained in nationalism. The notion "nationalism" itself is a double-edged sword: colonizing, injustice, and anti-colonizing, justice—both can be under its name. It is what it is used for that exactly gives nationalism a positive or negative connotation. Then what is nationalism like in The English Patient?Is Ondaatje for or against this nationalism? Can this kind of nationalism, in his opinion, be transcended? What is the significance of this transcendence?Through a detailed analysis of the novel mainly from the perspectives of the "English" patient's profession as a cartographer, the transnational community established in the villa, and the discussion on the seemingly abrupt ending, I come to the conclusion that nationalism in this novel is indeed a narrow nationalism, or the negative aspect of nationalism. By associating it with war, trauma and great damage, Ondaatje severely criticizes and condemns the practice of such a narrow nationalism. That's why, he, as an optimistic writer, still depicts an inseverable relationship between the characters of the villa, which definitely reveals his yearning for and belief in its transcendence.However, Ondaatje's complex cultural background demonstrates that his transcendence carries a sense of "unrootedness". Born in Sri Lanka, educated in England, and settling down in Canada, he is deprived of a sense of belonging, because he never truly feels integrated into these countries. To recall such a feeling, he has to advocate the transcendence of nationalism, which means only by transgressing those national characteristics can such an "in-between" person as him be truly accepted. Actually, transcending nationalism, in its real sense, should first and foremost respect rather than efface different nationalities. To some extent, we may well say that the more national a discourse is, the more likely that transcendence can be.