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A Study of Alienation in V. S. Naipaul’s >A House for Mr. Biswas<, Master thesis, English Language and Literature, Xi'an International Studies University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China 2020 [application of Fromm's theories to art].

  • V. S. Naipaul is widely recognized as one of the most outstanding novelists in the history of English literature. With the multicultural background and unique writing angles, he was awarded Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. As a representative work in his early time, >A House for Mr. Biswas< provides us with firsthand materials to understand the living dilemmas of the immigrants. In the novel, the cultural estrangement and identity displacement faced by the exiled people are vividly presented through a comical description of the protagonist, Mohun Biswas’s persistent striving for his own >house< under the duel impact of the intrusion of the suzerain culture and the bondage of the tradition. This thesis intends to explore the alienated image of Mr. Biswas and probe into the intrinsic reasons in light of Erich Fromm’s psychological alienation theory. Besides, Naipaul’s affirmative attitude to the question that whether people from the third world can establish their home and realize their identity in suzerains is discussed and revealed in the thesis. The thesis holds that Naipaul, through a detailed depiction of Mohun Biswas’s pursuit of the >house< in his life, endows his rather modest achievement with a heroic dimension, transforming himself into a self-made hero who conquers difficulties and achieves success >through failures<. Compared with escape, an excitement hidden in the engulfing and repulsive world is eventually grasped by Mr. Biswas. He confirms such possibility through his perseverance and struggles. The ending also reflects Naipaul’s own dream of a utopian society that can accommodate self-realization pursued by the immigrants. [English: www.cnki.net, 6/2022]

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Metadaten
Author:Xufang Song
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:Chinese
Year of first Publication:2020
Release Date:2024/04/04
Format:no download and copy possible
IdNo:Song_Xufang_2020
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Dissertations / Dissertationen
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Dissertations / Dissertationen
Licence (German):
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