This thesis studies Chinua Achebe’s novel No Longer at Ease from a postcolonial perspective, specifically concentrating on its protagonist, the colonized Obi Okonkwo, and his antagonist, the colonizer Mr Green, using the theories of the literary critic Homi Bhabha. It argues that these two characters are hybrids in their ambivalent contact zone by demonstrating firstly, the coinciding presence of reciprocal feelings of sympathy/admiration and contempt, and secondly, that they are culturally cross-bred individuals. Additionally, this thesis examines the mimicry of Obi and reveals that it can be either strategic or subconscious in nature. It concludes that both mimicry and mockery have the potential to destabilize the structural power-imbalance between colonizer and colonized, thereby challenging colonial authority.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:umu-167432 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Carlsson, Cecilia |
| Publisher | Umeå universitet, Institutionen för språkstudier |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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