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1、MadhuBENOITCulturalRepresentations:StrangerorStranger?DisplacedidentitiesinV.S.NaipulCulturalRepresentations:StrangeorStranger?DisplacedIdentitiesinV.S.NaipaulMadhuBenoit,UniversitéStendhalGrenobleIII“Tobestrangeistobeforeign,alien-astrangerisapersonwhosehomeiselsewhere.”Inotherwords,anoutsider.Inth
2、ecaseoftheTrinidadianwriter,V.S.Naipaul,thisdefinition,takenfromtheChambersDictionary,isparticularlyapt.Naipaul,throughaquirkinhistory,isastranger,ifnotaforeigner,inhisnativeTrinidad,asheisathirdgenerationimmigrantfromIndia.ThusitisdifficultinNaipaul’scasetodefinethat‘elsewhere’whichis‘home’.Asthewo
3、rd‘home’isinevitablelinkedwithidentity,itiscommonplacetoremarkthattheNobellaureate’sworkoftencentresonwhathasfrequentlybeencalledan‘identityquest’.Ifidentityiswhatdifferentiatesindividuals,adisplacedpersonisanindividualwhoforsomereasonlivesinacountryorsocietyotherthanhis/herown.Foucault,inhisessay,‘
4、TheSubjectandPower’notesthedualaspectofindividualism:ontheonehand,individualismistherighttobedifferent,includingeverythingthatmakesindividualstrulyindividual,andontheotherhand,theindividualisanchoredinacommunitylife–andbreakingthislinkforcestheindividualtobackonhimself,tyinghimtohisownidentityinacon
5、strainingway.(211-12).Thusidentityisconstructedonanindividualbasis,butwithinagivensocialstructure,thealienationofwhichcouldleadtoacorrespondingalienationofidentity.ThusfollowingFoucault,adisplacedidentityequalsalienation–afavouriteNaipaultheme.Thisishardlysurprising,because,asStuartHallfamouslynoted
6、:“Weallwriteandspeakfromaparticularplaceandtime,fromahistoryandaculturewhichisspecific.Whatwesayisalways‘incontext’,positioned.“(110)InthispaperIwouldliketoattempttoseehowNaipaulis‘positioned’.DoesdisplacementofidentitymeandislocationofidentityfortheTrinidadianwriter?Orinotherwords,doesalienationaut
7、omaticallyfollowgeographicaldislocation?FollowingHall’sconnectionbetweenartandthecontextoftheartist,IproposefirstlookingatNaipaul’sownculturaldislocation,andthenexaminingdislocationofidentityinhisbook
