Dergiler / Transynergy Journal of Translation, Literature and Linguistics / 2022 / Volume 1, Issue 1
V.S. NAIPAUL’S A HOUSE FOR MR. BISWAS: A STUDY OF LIMINALITY
- Sayfa
- 26–36
- DOI
- —
Özet
Abstract A permeating theme in V.S. Naipaul’s opus is the theme of the clash of cultures both individually and collectively. In his novel, A House for Mr. Biswas (1961), the society in Bhabha’s concept of “liminality”- along with hybridity- is subsumed under the theme of clash of cultures. In the novel, the struggle for identity of an Indian person residing in Trinidad is depicted through the clash of agrarian values with challenging western ones. The methodology will encompass insights pertinent to the postcolonial theory that envisions the concept of “liminality”, as inherently qualified by an existential lack. On an individual level, the clash is conceived via “liminality” defining the one forced to exist in an interstitial space. This aspect of Naipaul’s fiction reveals the fragmentation and alienation that happen to the universal location of man in the present day. This study delves into H. Bhabba’s notion of liminality in order to surface Naipaul’s depiction of the clash of cultures as referred in the novel. Naipaul paints a world marked by subtle confrontations with the human condition, which is intertwined with the sense of loss in the clash of cultures detrimental for the continued revival of flawed human existence. Keywords: liminality, Naipaul, postcolonial, fractured identity, in-betweenness
Abstract
Abstract A permeating theme in V.S. Naipaul’s opus is the theme of the clash of cultures both individually and collectively. In his novel, A House for Mr. Biswas (1961), the society in Bhabha’s concept of “liminality”- along with hybridity- is subsumed under the theme of clash of cultures. In the novel, the struggle for identity of an Indian person residing in Trinidad is depicted through the clash of agrarian values with challenging western ones. The methodology will encompass insights pertinent to the postcolonial theory that envisions the concept of “liminality”, as inherently qualified by an existential lack. On an individual level, the clash is conceived via “liminality” defining the one forced to exist in an interstitial space. This aspect of Naipaul’s fiction reveals the fragmentation and alienation that happen to the universal location of man in the present day. This study delves into H. Bhabba’s notion of liminality in order to surface Naipaul’s depiction of the clash of cultures as referred in the novel. Naipaul paints a world marked by subtle confrontations with the human condition, which is intertwined with the sense of loss in the clash of cultures detrimental for the continued revival of flawed human existence. Keywords: liminality, Naipaul, postcolonial, fractured identity, in-betweenness