The Loss And Reconstruction Of Cultural Identity

John Maxwell Coetzee(1940—),the winner of 2003 Nobel Prize for literature,gains high literary reputation in contemporary South Africa.As one of his masterpieces,Disgrace has drawn much attention since its publication and has been a focus of many literary critics,study.The novel that concentrates on the South Africans' state of life is set in post-apartheid South Africa.There the white rulers lose dominance and the black people begin to take a series of revenges on the white with their strengthened self-consciousness.Although Coetzee's description of social situation in post-apartheid South Africa brings international reputation for him,he is still criticized for the description of white rulers' embarrassing living condition in new South Africa.This thesis analyzes Disgrace from the perspective of post-colonialism with theoretical foundations of Homi Bhahha's interpretation of cultural identity.Based on a theoretical analysis and close reading of the novel,the thesis holds that with the loss of cultural identity,the colonizer in Disgrace is no longer true Self;Meanwhile,with the self-awakening and the self-rising of the colonized,they are no longer the Other.The thesis also reveals the loss of cultural identity of the individual and the nation as well in order to demonstrate the sharp contrast between the colonizer's situation and the situation of the colonized and between the white female's living condition and the non-white female's living condition.Facing the embarrassing living environment of new South Africa and the hostile relationship between different races,the strategy of hybridity coming from Homi Bhahha's theories of post-colonialism is helpful for the colonizer to reconstruct cultural identity,while the colonized has to take political struggle to reconstruct their cultural identities.By analyzing Coetzee's Disgrace from the perspective of cultural identity,this thesis broadens the study scope of the novel because this thesis's deep concerns is not only about the black being oppressed by the colonizer,but also about the white lost dominant position.In order to harmoniously coexist with the black in post-apartheid South Africa,the white has to give up their sense of superiority and even make compromises.Through analyzing postcolonial fiction Disgrace,this thesis aims to provide a new way for the harmonious coexistence and mutual development of all the human beings,regardless of races and cultures.