Return to search

Fallen from disgrace: tales of disillusion in Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman and v.s. Naipaul’s Guerrillas

Despite radical differences in their political commentary, Amiri Baraka and V.S.
Naipaul’s literary careers have obsessively centered on the divided Self of the colonized
artist. Esther Jackson argues that Baraka’s “search for form” becomes “symbolic of a
continuing effort to mediate between warring factions within the perceiving mind” (38).
Similarly, many critics have interpreted Naipaul’s grave manifestos as the outpourings of a writer disenchanted with his own past and national identity. For Selwyn Cudjoe,
Naipaul’s work is “reflective of a man who failed to discover any psychological balance
in his life” (172-173). This thesis analyzes how Amiri Baraka’s Dutchman and V.S.
Naipaul’s Guerrillas engage with various fairy tale conventions in order to narrate the
colonized victim’s divided Self. These narratives ultimately function as anti-fairy tales,
revealing the black protagonist’s accursed position in the symbolic order. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2014. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:fau.edu/oai:fau.digital.flvc.org:fau_30801
ContributorsOsborne, Tamar C. (author), Dagbovie-Mullins, Sika A. (Thesis advisor), Florida Atlantic University (Degree grantor), Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, Department of English
PublisherFlorida Atlantic University
Source SetsFlorida Atlantic University
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation, Text
Format70 p., application/pdf
RightsCopyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder., http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Page generated in 0.0024 seconds