Negotiating Differences In The "Third Space"

Salman Rushdie,as an Indian offspring but a British citizen,is under the influence of both Eastern and Western culture,through which he acquires hybrid cultural identity.This identity enables him,in his masterpiece Midnight's Children,to create a “third space” with both Eastern and Western elements.This thesis,under the guidance of Homi K.Bhabha's “Third Space” theory and other postcolonial studies,presents an analysis of Midnight's Children to reveal the features of Rushdie's “third space” writing,and to reveal his purpose of undermining colonial discourse and negotiating differences.Chapter one presents an analysis of the characters' hybrid identity closely related to that of Indian nation.As a result,different cultures can interact to help replace singularity and uniformity with multiplicity,making it possible to create a “third space”.Chapter two concerns with Rushdie's reconstruction in the “third space”,including his redefinition of home and host culture,his rewriting of Eastern and Western literary classics,his reinterpretation of traditional imagery,and his reshaping of history,through which Rushdie seeks to subvert official discourse and to present a panorama of postcolonial India.Chapter three,with an examination of the ambivalent relationships between the colonizing and the colonized,between male and female,as well as between different social classes,reveals Rushdie's attempt at crushing binary oppositions and negotiating differences,thus offering his unique understanding of postcolonial power relations.This thesis delves into the features of Rushdie's “third space” writing,including the systematic fusion of Western and Eastern culture,and of multiple literary elements,the construction of imaginary homeland,the reflection on postcolonial Indian dilemma,the emphasis on multiplicity and negotiating differences by rejecting uniformity and official discourse,through which Rushdie proposes to establish an ideal Indian society.