Diasporic Writing And Identity: A Study On The Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Novels

Abdulrazak Gurnah is one of the most influential black writers in contemporary Britain.In 1987,she officially entered the British literary world with her novel Memory of Departure.By 2020,she had published 10 novels.The Swedish Academy of Arts awarded him the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2021,making this Tanzanian writer gradually known to readers around the world.His works not only focus on issues related to racial conflicts and colonial trauma in the former colonial society,but also focus on issues such as cultural discomfort and identity of black immigrants in the post colonial era.His works mostly use the perspective of small people to express the loneliness and alienation caused by displacement or immigration,which has important social and practical significance in today’s era.Most domestic journals focus on single works,and there are no systematic research papers yet.This article focuses on the five works Paradise,The last gift,Gravel heart,Afterlives,By the sea from two aspects of dispersion and identity.Starting from the causes of the identity crisis in Gurnah’s own works,it explores the identity crisis of the characters in his works,and analyzes the efforts made in his novels to construct identity.This article is mainly divided into three parts,including introduction,text,and conclusion.The introduction mainly elaborates Gurnah’s life and literary creation,the current research situation at home and abroad,and the research purpose and method of this article.By reviewing the current research situation of Gurnah’s works at home and abroad,it can be seen that there has not been a systematic study of Gurnah’s works,and a brief explanation of the research purpose,ideas,and innovation points of this article is provided.The first chapter mainly discusses ethnic identity in diasporic writing.First of all,it analyzes the causes of the ethnic identity crisis in Gurnah himself.As an African-American of Arab descent,Gurnah suffered racial persecution in her native land,and after being exiled to England,she suffered racial discrimination from British whites,causing great racial trauma to Gurnah’s heart.The characters in his works also become “sandwich people”,excluded from the “white” world and the “colored” world.Gurnah attempted to rebuild the racial identity of blacks and subvert traditional cultural hegemony by rewriting colonial history.Although the characters in his works wander in British society,they still do not forget to explore their racial identity.The second chapter mainly discusses cultural identity in diasporic writing.Firstly,it analyzes the causes of the crisis of cultural identity in Gurnah.From the Third World to the First World,Gurnah is not only physically difficult to adapt,but also psychologically difficult to adapt to heterogeneous cultures.Gurnah brings this feeling into his works.The differences in economic and cultural development have brought great impact to the characters in the novel.They have encountered class oppression at home and religious conflicts in Britain.In terms of culture,immigrants face the dilemma of cultural identity.By mixing different languages,Gurnah created a “third space” suitable for the existence of immigrants.The third chapter mainly analyzes gender identity under diasporic collaboration.By analyzing the traditional images of Tanzanian women,wandering “orphaned” women in Britain,and a second generation black woman,this paper analyzes the gender identity dilemma caused by gender oppression,racial discrimination,and religious constraints for women.It shows three types of women rediscovering their gender identity through their own behavior.The conclusion part summarizes the full text,reiterating Gurnah’s views on identity,briefly describing the characteristics of his works,and clarifying the important practical significance of his works for modern society.