Preview

Analysis of the Main Indian Characters in Orientalist Discourse in

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
3747 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Analysis of the Main Indian Characters in Orientalist Discourse in
Analysis of the Main Indian Characters in Orientalist Discourse in
A Passage to India

Abstract: E. M. Forster is one of the most outstanding British writers in the early twentieth century. His novel A Passage to India was published in 1924 and it aroused much criticism at the time. With the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism (1978), this novel has been reinterpreted from a new prospective —— Orientalist criticism. Applying Orientalist criticism, this paper intends to reveal Forster’s double angles of view and give an analysis of the novel’s main Indian characters in Orientalist discourse.
Key words: E. M. Forster, A Passage to India, Orientalism, Orientalist criticism, Orientalist discourse

解读《印度之行》中东方主义话语下的主要印度人物形象

摘要: 爱•摩•福斯特是二十世纪早期英国最杰出的作家之一。一九二四年他的小说《印度之行》出版并在当时引起了很多评论。随着一九七八年爱德华•赛义德《东方学》的问世,这部小说受到了东方主义批评理论的重新诠释。本文旨在通过对福斯特双重视角的分析,从东方主义批评的角度来解读《印度之行》中东方主义话语下的主要印度人物形象。
关键词:爱•摩•福斯特, 《印度之行》,东方主义,东方主义批评理论, 东方主义话语

Introduction E. M. Forster is one of the most outstanding British writers in the early twentieth century. The novel A passage to India (1924) is drawn on Forster’s own experiences in India during his visits there in 1912 and 1921. Ranked as one of E. M. Forster’s most mature and brilliant works, the novel aroused much criticism at the time and its complexity of theme and structure and its metaphysical implications was widely interpreted from many perspectives such as symbolism, dualism, humanism, feminist criticism, existentialism, etc. Since 1970s, with the publication of Edward Said’s Orientalism(1978), many Western scholars have reinterpreted this novel from a new perspective, Orientaist criticism. Though E. M. Forster shows great courage in exposing the British rule in India and in expressing his deep sympathy to the colonized Indian people in the novel, as a writer in the imperial country, he could not avoid being affected with the deep-rooted Western collective thought of Orientalism and Europocentrism. Adopting



References: [1] Beer, J. (ed.). A Passage to India: Essays in Interpretation. London: Macmillan, 1985. [3] Forster E.M.. A Passage to India. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books Ltd, 1979. 文中注明页码的引文均出自本书. [4] Herz, J. S. A Passage to India: Nation and Narration. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1993. [5] Messenger, Nigel. How to Study an E.M. Forster Novel. London: Macmillan Education LTD., 1991. [6] Said, E. W. Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books, 1979. [7] Laura Heffernan (季文娜译). 《印度之行——哈佛蓝星双语名著导读》. 天津:天津科技翻译出版公司, 2008. [11] 骆文琳. “解读《印度之行》中的殖民主义意识”. 四川外语学院学报. 2003年第5期. [12] 阮伟.《二十世纪英国小说评论》.北京: 中国社会科学出版社, 2001. [13] 周韵.“试论《印度之行》的后殖民倾向”. 江苏教学院学报. 2001年第5期.

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Best Essays

    Unreached Peoples Project

    • 4982 Words
    • 20 Pages

    Bibliography: Dirks, Nicholas. Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India. Princeton, NJ:…

    • 4982 Words
    • 20 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jakarta Post. (2004, June 7). Scholars try to find a universal definition of democracy. (1) Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/pqcentral/docview/288289930/Record/1A031DF500CF4132PQ/1?accountid=12085#…

    • 7910 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Two Sides of Imperialism

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages

    [ 4 ]. Bal K. Tilak, “Speech to the Indian Nation Congress”, Sources of Twentieth Century Global History, (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002), 25.…

    • 1286 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The chief argument against imperialism in E. M. Forster's A Passage to India is that it prevents personal relationships. The central question of the novel is posed at the very beginning when Mahmoud Ali and Hamidullah ask each other "whether or no it is possible to be friends with an Englishman." The answer, given by Forster himself on the last page, is "No, not yet... No, not there." Such friendship is made impossible, on a political level, by the existence of the British Raj. While having several important drawbacks, Forster's anti-imperial argument has the advantage of being concrete, clear, moving, and presumably persuasive. It is also particularly well-suited to pursuit in the novel form, which traditionally has focused on interactions among individuals.…

    • 879 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    The Great Gatsby

    • 2955 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Urbanizing several villages. Showed the guy around his home and the house was worth millions, “it will be…

    • 2955 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Asian Culture has faith in that there are a series of beliefs and principled forms in the Asian literature that follows in the ethnic steadiness and a thoughtful of collaboration that resulted in the mutual understanding of Asian literature development, but the Asian literature views comes from a diverse ethnic upbringings, no single meaning of the word exists, but characteristically. Asian literature includes some direction of Confucianism in certain trustworthiness in the direction of the Asian Philosophy and realm. The antecedent of individual self-freedom for the sake of culture’s steadiness and affluence the recreation of speculative and literature finesses; and ethical belief and carefulness of culture literature acceptance. Furthermost Asian literature is a development of principal mythologies that spreads by a number of broadcasting, from books, theaters shows, TV, to even previous advertising. In general, communication, the literature of Asians strikes to the thrilling kinds. Asian Americans only makes up a small fraction of the United States America population and live mostly on the west and east coasts of land of America. Therefore, the rest of American’s population will more than likely get their associations to Asian Americans through TV and shows. Extending broadcasting disclosure to Asian cultures wants of distinctive contact with Asians. It delays the progression that could help the Asians from other ethnic qualifications comprehend that the literature types in unjust and inclined. Besides, this does not expose the true independence of the unique Asian American existing in America.…

    • 1259 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Stations of the Cross

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Learning Objectives: To read Indian literature in the context of changing political and social identities.…

    • 742 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Robert Koehler’s review on Slumdog Millionaire talks about how the film failed to touch upon the problems or culture that are truly present in India today. Rather it is, “Boyle’s feverish, woozy, drunken, and thoroughly contrived picaresque also conveniently packages misperceptions about India (and the East) that continue to support the dominant Western view of the subcontinent,” as Koehler states in his thesis statement. He continues in his paper to talk about how Boyle has created a skewed view on India that takes advantage of the westernization happening in India, but over exaggerates and glamorizes many aspects…

    • 1958 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As what I understood and my analysis goes like this: In Orientalism, Edward Said discusses the many aspects of the term “Orientalism,” including its origins, the primary ideas and arguments behind Orientalism, and the impact that Orientalism has had on the relationship between the West and the East. He quotes Joseph Conrad for the proposition that conquering people who are different from us is “not a pretty thing.” It needs an “idea” to “redeem” it. Said’s concept of Orientalism helps define the “idea” that provides a political, economic, moral, and socio-cultural justifications for imperialist actions by more dominant countries such as the United States. In Iraq, this “idea” is that the United States is a more advanced, civilized, and productive nation that is trying to assist a less civilized country with inferior citizens that is being torn apart by civil war. We are seeking to bring Iraqis the…

    • 471 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In a literary work, narrative is an art of telling a story to the readers and the writer uses various techniques to narrate his story. Narrative technique is vastly an aesthetic enterprise. A narrator detains the past, holds present and prepares the reader for future. The features of narratives include characters with clear personalities or identities, integrated dialogue; where tense may transform to the present or the future. There are many types of narrative. They can be imaginary, factual or a combination of both. The literary work may include fairy stories, mysteries, science fiction, historical fiction, romances, myth and folktale.…

    • 2192 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Orientalism

    • 2565 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Lavish silks, ornate free-flowing clothing, and silent streams running through lush landscapes full of tigers; these are obviously signs of the Orient. Any sign and symbol that is not Western can only be a representation of the East. The imitation of Middle Eastern and East Asian cultures by American and European writers is known as “Orientalism.” An example of an “Oriental” man is smaller, slightly more feminine, yet is somehow still mysterious and threatening to a white male; while an “Oriental” female exudes exoticism and lust from behind her veil. These assumptions about the East led Edward Said to skillfully examine and define Eastern cultures from the view of Western studies. The Western romanticized view of the East attracted many followers. In fact, the Western representations manage to teach more about the West itself than the East it purports to be concerned with. The idea of the Orient has led the West to envision an exotic and mysterious fantasy world that has only become more warped and distorted as the generations have passed.…

    • 2565 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    A Passage to India ChXXIV

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A Passage to India is a novel written by English author E. M. Forster. In the twenty-fourth chapter, there is a passage where Adela first enters the court room. The passage mainly describes and shows Adela’s opinions of the man who pulled the punkah. The importance of the way the Anglo-Indians entered the courtroom and the man who pulled the punkah will be discussed.…

    • 836 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Published in 1924, when the cracks in the British Empire were just emerging , the novel centers on the trial of an Indian doctor accused of raping an Englishwoman.The work was the last of Forster’s novels, and a thematic departure for him as well. Previous novels such as A Room With A View (1908), Howards End(1910) stayed in Europe ,focusing on the familiar Edwardian theme of the individual’s struggle against the stifling convention of society. Informed by Forster’s own travels to India in 1912-13 & 1921 , A Passage To India has been lauded not only for its critique of the British Empire , but also for its stylistic innovation and philosophical density.…

    • 615 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Post-colonial Indian English literature brings to light the erstwhile subjugated Indian pain and ethos through masterpiece works. The beginning of Indian literature…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Orientalism presents a critical study of the Western world’s patronizing cultural representations and perceptions, as well as their fictional depictions, of the Eastern world and the people inhabiting the Middle East and Asia. Said (p.32) notes that Orientalism, which involves scholarship in Western Countries about the East, is tied inextricably to Imperialism and this makes it intellectually suspect because it is the product of Imperialist societies, making Orientalism inherently servile and political. Indeed, Orientalism points out that in the Orient, cultural, economic, social practices of its people are romanticized to fit western perceptions. In A Passage to India, the author bases his story on the complex interactions between British colonialists and the Indian society, setting the story against the backdrop of the independence movement in India and the British Raj. The story revolves around Dr. Aziz, an Indian, and his British friends, including Miss Adela Quested. When Dr. Aziz is accused of assaulting Miss Adela (Forster 55), the run-up and aftermath of the trial bring to the fore common prejudices and racial tensions between the British rulers and indigenous Indians. This paper will seek to understand the events in A Passage to India through the lens of prevalent themes in Orientalism.…

    • 876 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays