On The Identity Construction In Ji De 's Autobiography

Andre Paul Guillaume Gide, the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1947,is one of the most important writers of France in the 20th century. The exploration, exposition and transcendence of oneself formed the eternally distinct theme of his works. Gide often infused with self-consciousness and rebellious spirit in his works, many of Gide’s works are strongly autobiographic. Si le grain ne meurt published in 1926 is not only an important autobiography of Gide himself, but also a classic of its kind in Western literature.This thesis mainly focuses on the book Si le grain ne meurt, in the mean time, it also refers to other autobiographic works of Gide. All the above combined forms the basis for studying Gide’s construction of his self-identity, and moreover, the artistry of his writings. This thesis is divided into the sections below:The Introduction firstly elaborates the importance of studying the autobiography of Gide given the attention and popularity enjoyed by autobiographic study in the academia. Besides, this section also sheds light on the main ways of thinking of this thesis on the basis of the research outcomes summarized herein.Chapter One discusses the multiple motives that induced Gide to write his autobiography. The lingering gloom of war, the crises he incurred both ideologically and emotionally, the setbacks he faced publishing Corydon and the cold-shoulders and reproaches after the publication, all the above negative factors drove Gide into self-doubt and a morass of status anxiety. For Gide, writing autobiographies was an important means to get rid of anxiety and to rebuild and challenge oneself.Chapter Two is mainly about the issues regarding identity construction in Gide’s autobiography. In Si le grain ne meurt,Gide reviewed the profound influence a repressive family environment and the puritan education had on him. He tried to showcase his transmutation from a pious puritan to a rebellious artist via the roundabout narrative of his childhood and his rebirth during the journey in North Africa. Either to obey one’s nature or to revolt against religious morals. Gide looked directly into his inward with the sincerity of an artist, liberating oneself and exploring the many a possibilities of oneself through writing.Chapter Three mainly dissects the complexity and contradictions of self-image construction in Gide’s autobiography. Once noticing the limitations of autobiographies. Gide turned his autobiography and autobiographic works into reciprocal references in the form of indirect pact, presenting to his readers a gigantic autobiographical space. This,at the same time, extended the complicated self-images of Gide into all his works. It is in his autobiography where Gide tried to justify his unique values of religious morality by switching between revelation and dissimulation in a penitent context that he achieved the diversification of his self-images.The Conclusion sums up the entire thesis and talks about the significance and influence of Gide’s writing of his autobiography.