An Interpretation Of Protagonist John's Cultural Identity In Boyhood And Youth From Spatial Criticism

John Maxwell Coetzee is one of the most eminent representatives in the 20~thh century South African immigrant writers.He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003.The complexity of realistic environment in South Africa and diasporic growth experiences make Coetzee stand on the edge of cultural identity all the time.Coetzee's works are immersed with reflections and critiques of superficial morality and harsh rationalism in western countries.His autobiographical novels,Boyhood and Youth are two independent but correlated works.The former portrays the protagonist John's childhood life in South Africa while the latter is about his journey of seeking root in England after he graduated from university.With Henri Lefebvre's spatial criticism and Stuart Hall's cultural identity as theoretical framework,this paper interprets the leading character's cultural identity problems in two works from physical space,social space and individual space.Lefebvre holds that the spaces are full of social and cultural implications,which influence the individual's thoughts and behaviors.Hall proposes that cultural identity changes dynamically and constantly in diasporic experiences of immigrants.In physical space,through analyzing the transformation of natural geographical landscape,the thesis reveals that John can neither get rid of the fetters of South Africa native culture nor integrate into the marginalized situation of England.In social space,through expounding John's family,school and working space,the thesis elaborates his difficult time of identity anxiety to predicament then to identity pursuit.Individual space mainly illustrates John's personality and psychological changes.Because of the denial of his Afrikaans cultural identity,John spent a taciturn and depressive childhood.In youth,John's alienation and diasporic state disillusioned him about seeking English cultural identity journey.This paper aims to provide a new perspective for studying of Coetzee's two autobiographical novels by interpreting Boyhood and Youth from spatial criticism.Through analysis of three spatial dimensions that John has experienced,this paper explores the effect of space in shaping individuals and cultural identity,and demonstrates the significance of spatial criticism in literary works.Besides,through delving into John's identity-seeking journey from South Africa to England,the writer of this thesis expresses the concern about the living in a marginalized condition in post-colonial society,and re-examinate the cultural identity of the imperial diasporic intellectuals at the same time.