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The Awakening of Self: A Postcolonial Study of Initiation Theme in

provided by Xiamen University Institutional Repository

Miguel Street

QIN Yi-hang
(College of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China)

Abstract: Miguel Street is a collection of linked short stories by the Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul. To interpret the initiation theme
in Miguel Street, this paper uses Rui Yuping’s theory structure to analyze the three major parts of the growing progress of the narra⁃
tor“I”
. This paper also uses postcolonial criticism to interpret the confusing situation which“I”was in and the narrative strategy in
this novel. The conclusion is that the only solution for“I”and even the whole country is to escape from the confusing situation.
Key words: postcolonial study; initiation theme; V. S. Naipaul; Miguel Street
中图分类号：I106 文献标识码：A 文章编号：1009-5039(2019)18-0218-05

V. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad with British citizenship their menace.

who publishes more than thirty fictions and nonfictions over fifty In recent years, as a Nobel Prize winner, Naipaul has attracted
years. Miguel Street is written in 1954 as his first novel and pub⁃ extensive attentions by his prolific writings around the world. As
lishes in 1959. It wins the 1961 Somerset Maugham Award. The one of the most representative works of Naipaul, Miguel Street has
New York Times comments it as“The sketches are written lightly, been studied for many years and from different angles, such as the
so that tragedy is understated and comedy is overstated, yet the characteristic of diaspora, post-modernism, post-colonialism and
ring of truth always prevails”(Poore). The stories have a single marginal themes, etc. In china, Sun Ni’s A Critical Study of V. S.
character living on Miguel Street from childhood to early adult⁃ Naipaul’s Novels is a relatively thorough interpretation of Miguel
hood. The other characters reappear in different stories, which all Street and Naipaul’s other novels, but the study of Naipaul in Chi⁃
share the same boy narrator, and with his growing, a gradual na started late, with an almost single direction and a lot of post-co⁃
change of mind can be seen from his narration. lonial discourse. None of these papers interpretes the novel as an
The style of the novel is very similar to Picaresque Novels and initiation story and also gives it a postcolonial context.
Quest Novels which was very popular in 16th and 17th century in 1 Growing Pains: Identity Crisis
Spain and other European countries. For this reason, the growth
theme of this novel is worthy to study. In China, the first systematic In initiation stories, the protagonist would first experience
book interpreting these novels is Rui Yuping’s A Study of Ameri⁃ some growing pains that can’t be solved by himself. In Miguel
can Initiation Stories1 which puts forward the structure of initiation Street, the pains of“I”are also the pains of all the local people—
stories and the idea of“mentor” , etc. According to this idea,“I”2
in identity crisis.“In the relationship between colonization and post-
the novel loses his childhood and cultural identity at first and gets colonization, the colonized cannot find their own cultural position
his epiphany at last. Hat is the negative mentor and B. Wordsworth by looking back to the past of the nation”(Zhai 65). Trinidad had a
is the positive mentor. Narrative Strategy is also an important part long colonial history of about 400 years which will inevitably lead
in the study of initiation stories. The novel uses double vision of a to a lack of nutrition of the traditional culture of the land for people
boy and an adult narrator. there who have no sense of glory to the local history, and thus have
The novel sets in Trinidad, one of the twin islands of Trinidad no opportunity to define their identities with history, which leads to
and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago which their identity crisis.
was a colony changed hands among Spanish, British, French, 1.1 The Lost“Childhood”
Dutch and Courlander colonizers, so a postcolonial study can be
Christopher Columbus encountered the island of Trinidad on
done on this novel. Both the author himself and“I”in the novel are
31 July, 1498. After that time, the Spanish authority had been es⁃
“unhomed” . In the narrator’s journey of growing up, he uses the
tablished there. In 1797, a British force led by General Sir Ralph
strategy of mimicry to fight back the colonial society which is also a
Abercromby launched the invasion of Trinidad which then became
way uses by most of the local people on Miguel Street to manifest

2019-05-24 修回日期：
收稿日期： 2019-05-31
作者简介：
秦艺航， 厦门大学外文学院在读硕士研究生， 研究方向为世界文学、
戏剧研究。

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a British crown colony. During the Spanish and British colonial pe⁃ same culture group share the same cultural identity, so there are
riod, African slaves and later India laborers were imported as plan⁃ many different cultural identities on Miguel Street. His mom tells
tation workers, so that most of the country’s inhabitants were now him to buy some bread and butter when they first get there. When
of African and India descent. With the wave of national liberation he comes back, he“found about six Miguel Street, but none
movement after WWII, ten British Caribbean colonies, including seemed to have [his] house”(Naipaul 72). The sameness of the
Trinidad and Tobago, formed the union of the West Indies in 1958. street symbolizes they all have lost their cultural identity and be⁃
During the more than 400 years of colonial period, the original cul⁃ come all the same.
ture and history there have been obliterated, which are the child⁃ When Titus Hoyt organizes a club and makes his last effort to
hood of the island and the natives. keep the club together, he tries to take them to visit Fort George, a
People in Miguel Street have no fixed status. They live in no historical place.“But [it] is history… You must remember that the
fixed place. Their lives are diaspora, and Miguel Street, their beau⁃ boys and girls of today are the men and women of tomorrow”(80).
tiful garden of Eden, is gradually fading away. The novel spares no And he introduces the history of Fort George. The students“had
effort to describe their melancholy of losing their childhood (origi⁃ never realized that anyone considered [them] so important”(80).
nal countries where they came from). Memories of their childhood They need to identify themselves by defining major historical
are still deeply imprinted in their minds. Though childhood memo⁃ events in the past to enhance the discontinuity of the local history.
ries are beautiful, they cannot stay strongly and clearly. Those peo⁃ But the natural tension of the local history is strangled, so the local
ple were living far away originally, coming to Miguel Street in Port people naturally do not want to understand it, nor are they proud of
of Spain, Trinidad’s capital city, and have become a member of a their history. This vicious circle has marginalized the local history,
multi-ethnic society. In the novel, the protagonist“I”and his mom and the local people have deliberately or unintentionally marginal⁃
first come there after his father died.“The boy narrator is eight ized their history thus eventually lose their identity.
years old at the start and over eighteen at the conclusion; approxi⁃ 2 The Journey of Growing
mately twelve years pass”(King 32). Nothing happened could be
figured out before he comes there except the loss of his father. His According to Rui Yuping’s theory about initiation stories,
own childhood memory is lost, which symbolizes the lost childhood growing is challenging. On the narrator’s way of growing, he has a
of the whole island. lot of mentors. The two most influential ones are Hat and B. Word⁃
This novel sometimes is recognized as a semi-autobiographi⁃ sworth. He also has some way of fighting back, such as mimicry.
cal novel which also symbolizes the lost childhood of the author 2.1 Mentor
himself for his similar experience.“Miguel Street consists of memo⁃
According to Rui Yuping, there are three kinds of mentors,
ries of a lost childhood homeland. Nostalgia is the usual subject
which are the positive, natural and negative mentor.“I”lives in the
matter of the first book of an expatriate colonial writer”(King 32).
community Miguel Street. People in a community influence each
Born in Trinidad as an Indian, Naipaul is doomed to a diaspora life
other. All the people living on the street can be said as his mentors,
from his birth. Through his life, he is“unhomed” . To be“un⁃
but the two most influential ones are Hat and B. Wordsworth.
homed”is to feel not at home even in your own home because your
Hat is the negative mentor. According to Rui, there are three
inner self is not at home:“your cultural identity crisis has made
kinds of negative mentors. First is the one who leads the protago⁃
you a psychological refugee”(Tyson 421). The initiation story of
nist to the wrong way of life. Second is the one who provide an op⁃
“I”is also the initiation story of the author himself.
posite model. In comparison with“bad” ,“good”has been clearly
1.2 The Lost Cultural Identity defined. The third is like Satan who leads the youth to wisdom
“Diaspora is the rejection and abandonment of the steady while losing their innocence and happiness (Rui 135). Hat is the
state of life. The more time, space and culture are dispersed, the third kind. In this poor, backward and colonized Trinidad, people’s
easier it will be to fall into a splitting, fragmentated and uncertain efforts often become wasted. Hat exposes the cruel social truths
situation in cultural identity or the loss of the whole meaning of step by step, pointing out the dark and desolate side of society, and
life”(Zhang Pinggong). More than 400 years of colonial history teaches“I”to see the reality clearly, but at the same time let him
leads to the lost“childhood”and diaspora. This will inevitably lead lose the pure joy of childhood.
to their failure of getting a complete cultural identity. “I”has no father. Hat appears though the whole book and
Cultural identity forms in one’s childhood.“In the process of serves as his father. In every story, Hat told his adult perspective to
socialization, one gradually forms their own way of thinking, behav⁃ “I” . His sentences are short but incisive. For example, when Laura
ior and feeling, i.e. their own cultural identity, firstly at home, then is destroyed by the fact that her daughter has to repeat her own trag⁃
at school, in the communication with the peers, in the workplace edy, Hat makes his comment,“Life is helluva thing. You can see
and in the group work”(Zhang and Qian 71). That is to say child⁃ trouble coming and you can’t do a damn thing to prevent it coming.
hood is a very important state for a person to form a sound and You just sit and watch and wait”(Naipaul 91-92). It’s a very pessi⁃
healthy personality.“I”has no childhood, which means I would mistic view towards the Trinidadian society. By listening to Hat’s
definitely experience identity crisis when growing up. comments,“I”learns to see through the vicissitudes of life, and
Cultural identity is“one, shared culture, a sort of collective builds up his own world view and judgment system.
‘one true self’ , hiding inside the many other more superficial or ar⁃ B. Wordsworth is the positive mentor. There are also three
tificially imposed‘selves’ , which people with a shared history and kinds of positive mentors. First is the intellectually and morally per⁃
ancestry hold in common”(Hall 223). People coming from the fect mentor; second is his peer who can enlighten each other; the

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third is like the transient guest of the protagonist in his journey. B. people try their best to imitate standard English in order to show
Wordsworth is the first kind. their acceptance of westernized education and to improve their so⁃
First, he is able to get along well with younger people in an cial status. In the novel, a clear distinction is made between stan⁃
equal status. He asks“I”secretly whether he loves his mom or not, dard and Creole English: the former is a symbol of a person’s good
and invites him to his house and treats him mangoes. Other people education and social status, and the latter is an inferior language
would more or less hide their personal feelings and lives from the that is stigmatized by the former.“I”learns standard English at
next generation, even from their friends, but he does not. He tells school and communicates with mom in broken Creole English. Al⁃
everything to“I” . He shares his sad love story with him.“I” , though in front of his son she always shouts out the dirtiest words in
though young, has experienced sympathy and sadness by listening Creole English, mom speaks standard English in front of the white
to his love story. After listening,“I”becomes rich in heart and gets woman neighbor Mrs. Hereira to cover up her inferior and marginal⁃
the notion of a helpless life. ized status. However, due to the excessive attention to the standard
Second, his identity and personality are special, which can pronunciation and form, she makes a lot of mistakes and misuses
keep him apart from the mainstream society and happy to make the form of the language.
friends with the younger people. He claimes to be a poet, and likes Some characters could speak standard English in the novel,
to cry for everything. As a friend and teacher, he leads“I”to look for example Man-man and B. Wordsworth. They deliberately imi⁃
at the ordinary scenery poetically, to appreciate the beauty of the tate British accent and succeed, for“if you shut your eyes while he
Caribbean Sea, and to resist the desolate reality. He took“I”to the spoke, you would believe an Englishman was taking to you”(Nai⁃
Botanical Gardens and the Rock Gardens,“climb[ing] Chancellor paul 34). The other people were still imitating it. One day, when
Hill in the late afternoon and watched the darkness fall… [and] the “I”goes to school, Man-man is at the corner of Miguel Street and
lights go in the city and on the ships in the harbor”(45). He uses they have the following dialog:
his poetic feelings and romantic ideas to lead“I”to reacquaint “Boy, where you going?”Man-man asked.
himself with the familiar world. “I going to school,”I said.
Third, he belongs to the edge of society who has not yet been And Man-man, looking at me solemnly, said in a mocking
assimilated by the mainstream society. He is a calypsonian who way,“so you goes to school, eh?”
works only in calypso season. During the rest of the year, he is a va⁃ I said automatically,“Yes, I goes to school.”And I found that
grant. He is writing the greatest poem in the world with only one without intending it I had imitated Man-man’s correct and very
line“the past is deep” . His poetry is recognized neither by the lo⁃ English accent. (34)
cal people nor the mainstream culture of the West.“The past”is In the first dialog, both of them omit the be-verb in the pres⁃
not only his past, but also the past history of the Trinidadian colo⁃ ent progressive tense which is the syntactic feature of the Creole
nial period, the oppression of the colonial history on the cultural de⁃ English. In Man-man’s second question, he tries to correct“I” ,
velopment of Trinidad. Through his guidance, the narrator enhanc⁃ with himself making a mistake of the subject and predicate incon⁃
es his understanding of the meaning of poetry, especially the diffi⁃ sistency when he uses standard English. The evidence of Man-man
cult situation of Caribbean poetry in the mainstream society. mixing the British and Creole English shows his mimicry to assume
The rest of the neighbors are the third kind of the positive airs of importance. But“I”doesn’t find out the mistake and begins
mentors. They appear in his life by accident, transiently, like pass⁃ to imitate, making the same mistake without knowing.“I”adopts
ers-by, but also play an important role in guiding his growth. For colonial education at school, and seems to be wiser than the rest of
example, from the mechanical genius uncle Bhakcu, he learns to the neighbors. In many places,“I”seems to disagree with the
persist, and from Titus Hoyt, he learns to study science. These peo⁃ neighbors’opinion. But in this dialog,“I”cannot realize the mis⁃
ple often appear only in their special episodes, but they each have take, which proves that“I”not only shows a strong desire to imitate
their function on the education of“I” . the language of the colonists, but also internalized it into his sub⁃
2.2 Mimicry conscious mind, for standard English is the symbol of identity and
fame in Miguel street and Trinidad.“I”hopes that through mimic⁃
According to Bhabha, mimicry is“one of the most elusive and ry,“I”could get a higher social status. It is his way of growing up
effective strategies of colonial power and knowledge”(Bhabha and facing the challenge of life.
126). In the novel, there are many places describing people’s mim⁃
icry in Trinidad. But at the same time, mimicry is a possible way of
3 Subversion: The Awakening of Self
“I”fighting back the colonial society, for mimicry is both resem⁃ In Miguel Street,“I”experiences the process of awakening of
blance and menace.“The menace of mimicry is its double vision himself, confusing and finally gets an epiphany. Hat in the book is
which in disclosing the ambivalence of colonial discourse also dis⁃ the negative mentor. He appears in the first story and frequently ap⁃
rupts its authority”(129). In the journey of his growing, mimicry is peared in other stories, but not until the end of the novel does he
the few ways he could adopt. According to Bhabha’s definition of have his own story. In his story,“I”no longer has anyone to listen
mimicry, colonial education and cultural penetration are the root to. Especially after Hat goes to jail,“I”has to rely on himself. The
causes of mimicry. sad ending of Hat leads the narrator’s beginning of the awakening
Frantz Fanon once said“To speak a language is to accept a of himself.
world and a culture consciously”(qtd. in Xu 142). Language is an 3.1 Self-Awakening
important sign of cultural identity. Most of the lower people there
use Creole English for daily communication, while a few educated After the children enter their puberty, they begin to either be⁃

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come dissatisfied with their lives which are full of care thus ordi⁃ standings of themselves and the world have a continuous develop⁃
nary without change, or they become doubtful of the rationality of ment and deepening process. It is impossible to know anything in
the real life because of a sudden event like Hat’s going to the jail one step, because the dynamic things will continuously develop
in the novel. Structurally, Hat’s last appearance symbolizes the and change, and people as the subject of cognition will also change.
end of a period of time. Contently, Hat’s turning from the edge of The definition of epiphany is“a sudden spiritual manifestation in
the voice to the central character, and his failures and setbacks sim⁃ which the‘whatness’of a common object or gesture appears radi⁃
ilar to the other people symbolizes his functions as a mentor is dis⁃ ant to the observer”(Baldick 72). The narrator’s epiphany happens
sipated and becomes only another object of the narrator’s observer. because of an accidental event.
“When Hat went to jail, part of me had died”(172). This sentence In the state of confusion,“I drank so much in one evening and
shows the beginning of his self-awakening. remains drunk for two whole days afterwards. When he sobered up,
Things happens after this event are not being depicted he“made a vow neither to smoke nor drink again”(Naipaul 174).
enough.“I”is fifteen when Hat goes to jail, and eighteen when he This is the point of epiphany which caused by the dead drunk of
comes out. Three years are enough to change a person.“A lot hap⁃ him. He realizes there is no possible way out in Trinidad.“Is not
pened in those three years. I left school and I began working in the my fault really. Is just Trinidad. What else anybody can do here ex⁃
customs. I was no longer a boy. I was a man, earning money”(171). cept drink?”(174). After that, his mom decides to send him
When he gets his own self, he begins to have critical thinking, and abroad. He agrees immediately, for he has realized what he has to
looks critically at the people around him.“Titus Hoyt was stupid do—leave Trinidad for an uncertain future. Finally, he found his so⁃
and boring, and not funny at all. Everything had changed”(172). lution. When he saw his shadow before him, he saw“a dancing
In the novel, Titus Hoyt is an incompetent teacher who cares dwarf on the tarmac”(179). He goes out of his predicament and he
too much about fame—the symbol of colonial education. He not on⁃ could dance freely now. He is going to discover the unknown world.
ly internalizes the colonial ideology, expecting the approval and 4 Narrative Strategy: Double Vision
praise from the colonial rulers, but also actively teaches these to
others, especially to young children. When“I”is directed by him In order to show the subtle changes in the inner world of the
to get home one afternoon, he comes again that night to train him to protagonist, initiation stories usually choose the first-person per⁃
write a letter to The Trinidad Guardian to thank him. He“spen[t] spective.“Because many protagonists are immature and have cog⁃
all afternoon making up this letter”(75). This event is not only a nitive limitations, the transformation of perspectives between young
manifestation of his vanity, but also an indication of his desire to and adult narrators is an important narrative strategy to improve the
get the recognition of the colonial rulers in order to gain a higher so⁃ depth of the work’s thought”(Rui and Fan 310). In the study of the
cial status. initiation theme of the novel, a well understanding of the narrative
Once“I”realizes how“stupid and boring”of him,“I”realiz⁃ strategy becomes important.
es the stupidity and hypocrisy of the colonial education.“I”begins In postcolonial context, the colonial subject has double vision,
to hate him, and even“everything”on Miguel Street. The narra⁃ which is“a consciousness or a way of perceiving the world that is
tor’s opinion towards everyone has changed. He realizes their inac⁃ divided between two antagonistic cultures: that of the colonizer and
tion, poverty, backwardness, and failure in life without any future. that of the indigenous community”(Tyson 421). This novel has
This is an evidence of his self-awakening. been narrated in double vision: both from the vision of a little boy
and a vision from an adult, from the vison of the colonized and the
3.2 Confusion and Epiphany
colonizer, from the vison out of the colonial center and within the
The state of self-awakening once begins, the protagonists center of the mainstream colonial discourse.“I”is both the narra⁃
would experience the pressure from life which makes them con⁃ tor and a character of the novel.“I”sometimes is recognized as a
fused. In this confusing state, some people would fall into ruin; boy, sometimes as an adult.“The narrative strategy of Miguel
some would experience something and finally get epiphany and be⁃ Street responds to a split between the author’s Trinidad and Eng⁃
come adults successfully (Rui 85).“I”in the novel belongs to the lish cultural selves and attempts to resolve that split through dou⁃
second kind. Hat’s unsuccessful ending leads“I”to confirm the ble perspective”(Weiss 23).“I” , as one of the many characters,
universality of the tragic life of Miguel street which caused his con⁃ has been involved in many events, experiencing the contradictions
fusion. among the characters and observing the various states in the street.
When Hat comes out from the jail,“I”has the feeling that As a child, his eyes are naive, curious and lively, and he is curious
“Hat too had changed. Some of the brightness had left him, and and lovely about the dirty and chaotic characteristics and the igno⁃
conversation was hard to make”(Naipaul 171). The once handsome rant and backward city, which makes the originally absurd and sad
with an easy grace, high-flying Hat has gone, replaced by a mid⁃ stories romantic and interesting, and the sadness is covered up,
dle-aged man who has been beaten down by life and fall into con⁃ with the contradictions lightened. He can see what the other people
ventions. The narrator’s last hope is on Hat: he thinks Hat could cannot see and feel the special emotions or wits of his neighbors,
still give him some guidance, but that is destroyed and leads to his but he cannot see the nature of life there.
confusing state.“Without really knowing it, I had become a little The boy narrator stands for the dramatic elements of Miguel
wild”(173). He didn’t know what he could do to solve his problem⁃ Street while the adult narrator stands for the potential harsh reali⁃
atic state. ties there.“Many stories start with the admiration of the boy narra⁃
After the process of confusing, the changing point is epiphany. tor to the people around him, but the results are always disappoint⁃
Epiphany is an important state in initiation stories. People’s under⁃ ing. Every character is a mockery of an ideal”(Sun 114). The narra⁃

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tion from the boy narrator is often opposite to the adult narrator, the ries” , whereas“Bildungsroman”as“Education Stories”which fo⁃
author, and the readers. What the boy thinks humorous, the author cus on the protagonist’s inner shaping of personality (See Rui
and readers think sad. The double vision often produces discord. 2-3).
The boy’s eyes can refract the real life. Through his eyes, small 2.In this paper,“I”has been used as the name of the protago⁃
things become big things; clowns become kings; liars become he⁃ nist.
roes. But he cannot see the uniformity of the local people: they are References:
“the others”standing on the edge who are abandoned by the main⁃
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at the bottom of their lives, and the fate of oppression is unchange⁃ on May 5th, 1960, Retrieved on June 20th, 2014.) August 5th,
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ing of each story: every story is inevitably ended in tragedy. The 06/07/specials/naipaul-miguel.html >
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China Social Sciences Press, 2004.
from the law, committing suicide or going mad. All of them cannot
[3] Bhabha, Homi.“Of Mimicry and Man: The Ambivalence of
escape the tragic fate. The adult narrator clearly shows their pover⁃
Colonial Discourse.”October Vol. 28, Discipleship: A Special
ty, backwardness, ignorance, and blind worship and mimicry of the
Issue on Psychoanalysis (Spring, 1984:125-133.
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[4] Zhai, Jing. Marginal World: A Study of Homi Baba’s Postcolo⁃
The double vision of the boy narrator and the adult narrator
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has vividly represented the original scenes of the colonial life and [5] Tyson, Lois. Critical Theory Today: A User-Friendly Guide
highlighted the tragedy which the colonial people cannot change (Second Edition). London: Routledge, 2006.
their destiny. [6] King, Bruce. V. S. Naipaul (Second Edition). New York: Mac⁃
5 Conclusion millan International Higher Education, 2003.
[7] Zhang, Yuhe and Qian Linsen.“About Cultural Identity.”Dia⁃
The initiation theme of Miguel Street is very typical. From the logue Transculture,2002(9):71.
narrator’s growing process, a whole panorama of the colonial soci⁃ [8] Naipaul, V. S. Miguel Street. London: Picador, 2002.
ety is shown in front of the readers. On the one hand, the process of [9] Rui, Yuping, Fan Yi. Visions of Adolescent Growth: A Study
growing up is the process of exploring one’s inner self; on the other of Contemporary American Initiation Stories. Beijing: The
hand,“it is the process of exploring the world and observing others, Commercial Press, 2012.
or by exploring and observing others to return to one’s own heart to [10] Xu, Weiwei. “The State Apparatus Producing the Mimic
observe one’s own inner self”(Zhang Deming 128). The novel pays Men: The Colonial Education in Miguel Street.”Foreign Liter⁃
more attention to the latter aspect which the narrator’s observation ature Studies 5 (2013): 141-47.
and description of the growing process of some of the other teenage [11] Baldick, Chris. Oxford Concise Dictionary of Literary Terms.
neighbors on Miguel Street also shows the general characteristics Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 2000.
and personalities of the growth of the colonial teenagers. [12] Hall, Stuart.“Cultural identity and diaspora.”Colonial dis⁃
The novel uses double vision to highlightes the fatalism that course and post-colonial theory: a reader. Williams, Patrick
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growing process of“I” , it can be said that for individuals living in 227-37.
the former colonies, the ways trying to find order in chaos, to seek [13] Weiss, Timothy F. On the Margins: The Art of Exile in V. S.
identity in confusion and to assimilate himself in mimicry are all in Naipaul. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press, 1992.
[14] Sun, Ni. A Critical Study of V. S. Naipaul’s Novels. Hefei:
vain. The result will only be a more chaotic order, a more ambigu⁃
Anhui people’ s Publishing House, 2007.
ous identity, a weaker sense of wandering, and a more serious mar⁃
[15] Zhang, Deming.“On the Growing up Motif of Caribbean Lit⁃
ginalization. The only solution is to escape from the confusing state.
erature.”Journal of Zhejiang University (Humanity and Social
Influenced by colonial hegemony culture and some other colonial
Sciences) Vol.36, No.1 (2006): 126-32.
sequelae, it is a long way to grow up either for individuals or for a
[16] Zhang, Pinggong. Globalization and Cultural Identity. Guang⁃
country. zhou: Jinan University Press, 2013.
Notes: 【通联编辑：王力】

1.In the book, Rui defines“Initiation Stories”as“Growth Sto⁃

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中外文学文化研究 本栏目责任编辑：王 力