本文以安東尼．紀登斯與霍爾談論的現代性與身份認同理論為輔，嘗試討論奈波爾三本千里達小說《畢斯華茲先生的房子》《米格爾大街》《神秘的推拿師》中因現代性所造成的社會變遷與斷層，及其所衍生出的個人與國家認同問題。筆者主張千里達因殖民背景加上現代性而產生的種種變化與衝擊，將其人民與社會由過去農耕生活抽離後產生了斷層與不連貫，因而個人必須在現代社會中重新檢視並建立身份認同。第一章主要介紹紀登思與霍爾的理論及奈波爾身平與三本小說。第二章以《米格爾大街》為主，討論現代化對於千里達的衝擊。第三章則以《畢斯華茲先生的房子》為主軸，討論千里達現代化同時，個人尋求自我身分認同與文化認同的過程與重要性。最後，筆者斷定現代化與自我、文化認同皆為必須持續變動的過程，隨著社會演變而不斷修正，而奈波爾身為作家的自我認同也持續不斷的在變化著。

This thesis aims to, with the aid of Anthony Gidden’s and Stuart Hall’s theories on modernity and identity, discuss the process of changes initiated by modernity in the societies of V. S. Naipaul’s three Trinidad novels in his writing career: namely, The Mystic Masseur (1957), Miguel Street (1959), and A House for Mr. Biswas (1961). My argument is that in these Trinidad novels, the process of modernization is fragmenting the old and agrarian Trinidadian society, and therefore has caused rupture and discontinuities in people’s life. This fragment is actually a pertinent chance for both the protagonists and Naipaul to regain their genuine self and cultural identity by escaping from the limiting environment.
In Chapter One, there is basic historical background information of Trinidad and of V. S. Naipaul. I will list out some key concepts of Anthony Gidden’s ideas of modernity, along with the ones of the importance of self-identity in a modern society. Moreover, Stuart Hall’s concepts of modernity and identity will be presented as well. Chapter Two, with some comparisons with The Mystic Masseur and A House for Mr. Biswas, will mainly focus on Miguel Street and on the impact of modernity on it. The institutional and economical changes caused by modernity lead to rupture and discontinuity in people’s life, and consequently, force them to search for self-identity. Chapter Three will move on to discussion of the self-identity formation of Mr. Biswas in A House for Mr. Biswas. During his growth and struggle in Trinidad, he finally gains his identity as an individual in a modern society. Moreover, his newly established sense of cultural identity will be inherited by his son, Anand. Anand serves an analogy to the boy narrator in Miguel Street whereas Ganesh in The Mystic Masseur is seen as an antithesis to Mr. Biswas. At last, I will define Naipaul’s sense of identity as a Trinidad-born writer.

Table of Contents
Chapter One
Introduction……………………………………………..……………..1

Chapter Two
Modernity, Rupture and Discontinuity in Naipaul’s Trinidad Novels:
The Mystic Masseur, Miguel Street, and A House for Mr. Biswas…...38

Chapter Three
Escape and Identity formation in Naipaul’s Trinidad Novels:
The Mystic Masseur, Miguel Street, and A House for Mr. Biswas.......70

Chapter Four
Conclusion……………………………………….………………….106

Works Cited…………………………………………………………...110

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