Seeking Spatial Justice:An Analysis Of V. S. Naipaul’s Half A Life And Magic Seeds From The Perspective Of Spatial Theories

V. S. Naipaul(1932-) is an British writer from Trinidad with Indian traditions, which makes it clear that he is a “walking” writer with India and Trinidad “dragging” behind him. Colonial memories, studying in the host country and “unhomely” writing all constitute his life. Though living in the “centre”, Naipaul constantly pays attention to the “marginal” through his writings. Special cultural identities and spatial experience both account for his acuteness of spatial problem. Naipaul’s works, from the first novel The Mystic Masseur(1957), Miguel Street(1959), A House for Mr Biswas(1961), Indian Trilogy to the last non-fiction The Masque of Africa(2010) inform readers of his thoughts of space. His new works Half a Life(2001) and Magic Seeds(2004) are considered as a conclusion to his literary career, which together tells a person’s spatial experience of self-seeking, departing from India, studying in London, then leaving for Africa and finally settling in London again, and reflects Naipaul’s thoughts of space again.With the publication of The Production of Space by the new Marxist Henri Lefebvre in 1974 and the advent of the epoch of space foreseen by French philosopher Michel Foucault, much importance is attached to the term space. Spatial theories keep developing with efforts of new Marxist David Harvey, post geographers like Edward Soja and some cultural critics. Till the appearance of new cultural geography, space has become highly connected with societies, histories and cultures, more than be a geographical term.Naipaul once received censure from critics due to his mean comments on the Third World, while in Half a Life and Magic Seeds, he becomes more mild in tone. Actually most researches focus on the popular themes like identity and cultural exile in these two works. In view of Naipaul’s attention to space and his life-long efforts to seek ways out, this thesis focuses on social space, historical space and cultural space in Half a Life and Magic Seeds, revealing spatial injustice and Naipaul’s envisioning of seeking spatial justice.This thesis consists of five parts, including Introduction, three chapters and Conclusion.Introduction introduces Naipaul and his literary achievements. Researches on Naipaul both at home and abroad are presented as well as researches on Half a Life and Magic Seeds. Naipaul’s attention to space in these two works is partially ignored. Therefore, it is significant to focus on Naipaul’s attention to space in these two works.Chapter One deals with the inevitability of the advent and development of spatial theories and the main representatives’ claims. This thesis will not be finished without the foundations of spatial theorists’ claims, including Henri Lefebvre’s social space, Edward Soja’s Thirdspace and spatial justice, Edward Said’s imaginative geography and Mike Crang’s view of cultures of connection and contact.Chapter Two represents spatial injustice in Half a Life and Magic Seeds. Naipaul writes about spatial injustice both in India and London. The numb, stagnant and twisted Indian social space is produced by its deep-rooted caste system and hundreds of imperial colonialism; and London is an alienated space of large gaps between the rich and the poor facing the collapse of value system and civilization decline, produced by its urbanization in the 1980 s. Both India and London can not get rid of ubiquitous spatial injustice.Chapter Three represents the interconnected histories and cultures between the colonizers and the ex-colonies. In this chapter, Naipaul writes about the historical space with indelible colonial imprints and cultural space of connection and contact. History is a produced product, and Naipaul rewrites histories and charge the imperials of their colonial crimes. Exiling through Thirdspace, Willie builds up his flowing cultural identity through contacting and conflicting with diverse cultures, and finally finds out himself in his aging years. Meanwhile, it is also cultures of connection and contact that contribute to the friendship between Willie and Roger and the successful marriage between the white and the colored. Naipaul’s wiring stance of interconnected histories and cultures implies his envisioning of a space of justice.Conclusion concludes Naipaul’s exploring and exposing of spatial injustice, pointing out his envisioning of spatial justice.