Black Men Under Gaze:The Black’s Identity Predicaments In Caryl Phillips’s Cambridge

As one of those illustrious contemporary ethnic literature writers in English literary archives, Caryl Phillips (1958-) invariably concerns himself with the explorations of the identity issues in his fictional world. There is no exception to one of his most acclaimed novel Cambridge (1991), in which he fleshes out couples of marginalized characters who are pestered by their identity predicaments triggered by the white’s gaze. Predicated on the theoretical and textual analyses, this thesis is intended to expatiate on the black’s identity predicaments in Cambridge mainly from the following three dimensions:the identity predicaments of the black men in the novel, "gaze" as the root of their identity predicaments, and "oppositional gaze" as the way out of their identity predicaments.By and large, this thesis comprises five chapters, the introduction, three chapters of the argumentation, and the conclusion. In the introduction, emphasis is put on encapsulating the general information of Caryl Phillips as a prolific writer and his seminal works, recapitulating the literature review concerning the novel Cambridge both at home and abroad, and then introducing the research task, method and structure in a general way.In the second chapter, significance is first attached to unveiling the social psychology of the black diaspora including sense of fragmentation, sense of homelessness, and sense of "two-ness," then to revealing the black’s identity predicaments lying in the abovementioned social psychology. The identity predicaments generally include two respects:Cambridge’s dangling between whiteness and blackness; the black females’ subordinate position. In the third chapter, light is shed on the objectifying and disciplinary "gaze" as the root of their identity predicaments in the novel. Generally speaking, the loss of subjectivity under the racialized gaze or the white’s gaze is the pivotal factor leading to the black men’s identity predicaments in Cambridge, therefore, to regain subjectivity through undermining the white’s gaze is the most important thing for them to get out of their identity predicaments, and based on that fact, it comes to the exploration of the strategies for their identity predicaments in the fourth chapter. Efforts are first taken to elaborate on the irrational attitudes towards the white’s gaze in the novel, and then to expound on "oppositional gaze" as a strategy of the way out. In elucidating the irrational attitudes towards the white’s gaze, the stress is put on interpreting Cambridge’s internalizing the white’s gaze, Christiania’s aborted challenge against the white’s gaze and Stella’s impracticable tolerance of the white’s gaze. With reference to the strategies, to reconstruct the black’s subjectivity through "oppositional gaze" plays a seminal role. But for those black women in the novel, the patriarchal gaze from their own community is another factor occasioning their identity predicaments. Hence, to build a balanced relationship between two genders is also essential, for only in this way can they fight against the white gazers with concerted efforts.The last chapter is the conclusion which is intended to summarize the main ideas and core findings in this thesis. The black’s identity predicaments in Cambridge are essentially due to the loss of their subjectivity under the white’s disciplinary gaze; thus, to undermine the power of white’s gaze and reconstruct the black’s subjectivity through oppositional gaze play a significant part in their getting out of the identity predicaments. Additionally, to build a balanced relationship between black men and black women is also indispensable. This thesis not only offers a relatively fresh angle in studying Cambridge, but also exerts an enlightening influence on studying Phillips’s other works.