摘 要

《通灵按摩师》作为印裔英籍作家V.S. 奈保尔公开发表的第一部小说，主要讲述了一个来自草根阶层的印度裔知识分子，甘涅沙，经历一系列神奇而啼笑皆非的事件，一次又一次地转换身份而最终走向成功，从社会边缘进入核心精英圈的传奇故事。与奈保尔中后期的作品风格有所不同，这部小说的整体风格属于社会讽刺性喜剧，故事情节和人物塑造较为夸张荒诞，但具有浓厚的前英属殖民地特立达尼地方特色，全面展示了殖民时期人们的生活状况和社会问题,具有深刻的研究意义。本文旨在从后殖民主义视角解析该小说的主人公甘涅沙在殖民帝国的经济掠夺和文化压迫下，逐渐地否定并抛弃了自己的文化根源，并最终改名换姓，完全放弃了自己原有的文化身份，异化成为了殖民帝国的代言人。通过对小说的解读，揭示即使是在殖民体系已经奔溃瓦解的今天，宗主国的精神控制以及影响依然不可小觑。

关键词：V.S. 奈保尔；《通灵按摩师》；甘涅沙；后殖民主义理论

Abstract

The Mystic Masseur, the first novel of the Indian-British writer, V. S. Naipaul, mainly tells a story of Ganesh, an Indian immigrant intellectual, climbing from the grass-root to the social elite, from the edge to the center through a series of legendary and ridiculous incidents. Different from the style of Naipaul's works in middle and late stage, this novel is a social satirical comedy. Therefore, both of its plot setting and character building are rather exaggerated and even ridiculous, but it is set in Trinidad, the ex-colony of Britain, which can comprehensively display the people’s living conditions and social problems during colonial period, and has profound research significance. This paper is going to, from the perspective of post-colonial theory, conduct a thorough analysis of the protagonist’s maturity and changes, interpreting the process and reasons why Ganesh gradually denied and abandoned his cultural origin, and finally changed his name, gave up his cultural identity as an Indian immigrant and became the spokesman of the colonial empire. Through the interpretation of the novel text, it is warning that even though the colonial system has collapsed, the spiritual control and influence from the sovereign to the ex-colonies still cannot be overlooked.

Key Words: V. S. Naipaul; The Mystic Masseur; Ganesh; the post-colonial theory

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 V. S. Naipaul 1

1.2 The Mystic Masseur 2

1.3 The post-colonial theory 3

1.4 Literature review 4

1.5 The structure and significance of the research 6

2 Process of Ganesh’s Growth and Changes 8

2.1 Changes of the identities and social status 8

2.2 Corrosion and reconstruction of the ideals and beliefs 9

2.3 Abandonment of the original name 11

3 Individual Destiny Under the Colonial Domination 12

3.1 Dominant influence of the colonial government 12

3.2 Effects of social environment 14

3.3 Infiltration and mind-control of colonial hegemonic culture 15

4 Conclusion 18

References 19

Acknowledgements 20

A Post-colonial Interpretation of Ganesh’s Growth and Changes in The Mystic Masseur

1 Introduction

1.1 V. S. Naipaul

In 2001, the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to an Indian-British writer, V. S. Naipaul, for his unique writing technique and style, and great contribution to the literature world. Being a well-known contemporary writer among the whole world, he lives an unusual life full of legends. First of all, he has a rather complicated family background. His ancestry were Indian, but he was born and brought up in the ex-British-colony Trinidad, a small island in Caribbean, since his grandfather was shipped to this remote island as a contractual labor at the time of colonialism. His father was an Indian, while his mother was a local, which further meant that Naipaul had to grow up in such a complex environment mixed with Indian tradition and local culture. In 1950, Naipaul was lucky enough to receive a large amount of scholarship so that he could manage to pursue his dream of becoming a writer at Oxford University in London. Although it is rather rough, through many years’ persistence, struggle and efforts, he finally succeeded in transforming from a nameless Trinidadian boy to an excellent and prestigious English writer among the whole world.

Naipaul is a very talented and productive writer. In 1957, he published his first novel, The Mystic Masseur, which won him the John Llewelyn Rhys Memorial Prize and earned him the first fame in the British literature circle. From then on, he continuously issued more than 30 works within 50 years, which includes novels, short stories, travels, diaries, letters, etc. According to Yang (2004), his major works can be divided into three categories. The first one is novel. Throughout his writing career, 14 to 33 works are novels, including The Mystic Masseur (1957), The Suffrage of Elvira (1958), Miguel Street (1959), A House for Mr. Biswas (1961), etc. The second category is travels. Owning to his complicated background, deep sense of rootless and strong desire for identity building, Naipaul chooses the lifestyle of traveling and exiling. Once in an interview, he said, “I don’t belong here, of course, although everyone has been very gracious.” (Bharati amp; Robert, 2015) Moreover, he makes use of his journey in India, Trinidad and African countries as writing materials and produces several travels depicting the true portraits of people’s life in the Third World and revealing the cruel and devastating consequences brought by the colonial deprivation and oppression. The representatives include An Area of Darkness (1964), Indian: A Wounded Civilization (1977), India: A Million Mutinies Now (1990), Among the Believers: An Islamic Journey (1981), etc. The third category is half-autobiographical writings, including novels, letters, historical reports, and social analysis. The Enigma of Arrival, written in 1987, is a typical representative. To some extent, Naipaul inserts his own life into his works and expresses his own ideas through building fictional characters (Nicholas, 2016).

1.2 The Mystic Masseur

Published in 1957, The Mystic Masseur is the first published novel of V. S. Naipaul. It tells a rags-to-riches story of the protagonist, Ganesh Ramsumair, from a struggling masseur to a successful political pundit. Together with Miguel Street and A House for Mr Biswas, The Mystic Masseur belongs to the very beginning of Naipaul’s writing career and all of them can be categorized as social satirical comedy. Moreover, all these novels are set in Naipaul’s homeland, Trinidad, a place that he is extremely familiar with. Actually, it is understandable that Naipaul chooses Trinidad as his first subject, for he can take his early experiences there as writing materials and gets his writing career start rather easily (Griffin, 2016). On the other hand, it is also much safer for him to depict the vivid living situation of the local people under heavy colonial oppression and to reveal numerous terrible social problems brought by the cruel colonialism, because he is not only an observer, but also a participant.

The novel is full of exaggerated, cynical, and ridiculous plots and characters. It reflects every aspects of the Trinidad society at the particular time of colonialism, which is truly thought-provoking, meanwhile it also can be considered as a legend of Ganesh’s growth and changes. Its protagonist, Ganesh Ramsumair, was an ordinary poor boy at first, coming from an Indian immigrant family. His father managed a sum of money and sent him to the Queen’s Royal College at the capital city of Trinidad, Port of Spain, which later changed his life completely. His father’s death made him left school and returned back to his hometown and gradually made up mind to be a writer, which is not a smooth process. At first, he got married and received a large dowry by tricking his father-in-law. In order to make a living, he decided to be a masseur like his father, which failed but urged him to write the first book—A Hundred and One Questions and Answers on the Hindu Religion—that still didn’t bring him the money and fame as he had expected. Therefore, he restarted his business of masseur with the help of his aunt, who gave him all the Sanskrit books about masseur left by her husband. After successfully curing a boy who claimed that he was haunted by a cloud, suddenly Ganesh became famous as a mystic masseur over a night. Meanwhile, Ganesh’s first book also sold very well owing to his fame, which encouraged him to write more books. Later on, in order to defeat his opponent, Narayan, Ganesh was involved in politics. At first he was a brave and upstanding M.L.C (Members of the Legislative Council) but after serials of accidental but rather complicated incidents, Ganesh ultimately changed into a hypocritical and shameless spokesman of the British colonists, a M.B.E (Order of the British Empire).

1.3 The Post-colonial Theory

After World War II, the European countries suffered heavily, especially the great colonial suzerains, Britain and France, whose colonial system was in danger. Since 1960s, the national liberal movement fluxed and refluxed among the whole world. A large number of colonies in Asia, Africa and Latin America have gained political independence gradually. The worldwide colonial system finally collapsed. However, according to Stam and Shohat (2012), those countries gained political independence though, they still couldn’t get rid of the control and oppression of their former mother country in terms of economy, culture, etc., for their weak national economy, immature political system and sophisticated social problems caused by long-time colonial oppression and deprivation. In this context, a new theory emerged, that is the Post-colonial Theory.

The publication of Orientalism (1978) and Culture and Imperialism (1993) by Edward W. Said marked the rise and basic maturity of the post-colonial theory. The concept of post-colonialism can be interpreted from three different perspectives: The first refers to the countries and people in Asia, Africa and Latin America who used to be colonies of Britain or France; the second refers to the research, reflection and criticism on the historical facts and consequences of Western cultural colonization; and the third one refers to the global political, economic and cultural patterns since the end of the colonial era (Zhang Libo, 2004). The post-colonial theory tries to interpret the relationship between the West and the East from a brand new perspective. It has broken the traditional understanding of the cultural relationship between the East and the West for a long time, dissected and criticized the cultural imperialism. Its core ideas focus on the influence and control of the suzerain on the ex-colonies, uncovering that even though the era of colonialism has ended, the infiltration and mind-control of the colonial hegemony culture on the ex-colonies is still expanding.

1.4 Literature review

Post-colonial Theory, since it emerged in 1960s, has received great attention and aroused various discussion and debate among the whole world. Over several decades, it has been developing rapidly and fruitfully. Moreover, the post-colonial theory has been considered as one of the most important and valuable theories in the literature world at present. It plays a vital and irreplaceable role in the study of textual literature and literal criticism, especially concerning about the relationship between the former colony and its sovereign state. After decades of researches and practices, on the basis of absorbing other theories, such as Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony, Franz Fanon’s theory of national culture, and Michel Foucault’s theory of conversation and power, the research of post-colonial theory has made substantial advancements and achievements in the Western academic world. Many prestigious scholars, such as Edward W. Said, Gayatri C. Spivak and Homi K. Bhaba, has conducted large amounts of researches and tried to establish and accomplish the organized and systematic post-colonial theory through publishing papers and writing books, such as Orientalism, Culture and Imperialism, A Critique of Post-colonial Reason: Toward a History of the Vanishing Present. On the other hand, a group of writers, whose works mainly concern about the people and society in the Third World in the post colonial era, emerged and expressed his or her ideas and concerns through writing novels, stories, essays, etc (Krishnan, 2012). Keywords, such as identity, subject and object, cultural imperialism, hybridity, and mimicry, have frequently been used by critics in the interpretation of their works.

Naipaul is one of the representatives of those writers. He is a typical Indian immigrant intellect. His rather complicated background and legendary experiences endows his works a special literary feature, which are his sharp and unique insights of the Third World. The Mystic Masseur is his first published novel. Different from Naipaul’s later works, it is a social satirical comedy. Its exaggerated and ridiculous plots and character images have been criticized by some serious critics who consider V. S. Naipaul as a serious writer and the small first novel is inconsistent with the general writing style and therefore is of little research value. Consequently, unlike Naipaul’s other works, The Mystic Masseur received much fewer attention. Even Naipaul himself seldom mentioned it. There are numerous papers and essays about Naipaul and his major works, but the research on his first novel, The Mystic Masseur, is too few to find.

The post-colonial theory was introduced to China in the late 1980s. After the publication of Orientalism by Edward W. Said in 1978, its Chinese version came out and captured the attention of some Chinese scholars, such as Zhang Jingyuan, and Liu He, who made a brief introduction of the foreign post-colonial theory and its representative theorists, thus pulling open the prelude to the study of post-colonial theory in China (Ma Degao, 2012). In 1993, the publication of Said’s another masterpiece, Culture and Imperialism, raised a upsurge of discussion and study about post-colonial theory. Many domestic scholars wrote a large number of articles and papers about the theory, among which The “Outsider” in the Eyes of Europeans and Americans written by Zhang Kuan in 1993 cast huge influence on the Chinese literature circle, inspiring the Chinese intellectuals to reflect on the China image under the circumstance of Western “orientalism”(Ma Degao, 2012). From then on, the research on the post-colonial theory has never ceased, on the contrary, it is continually expanding and deepening. Through the continuous efforts of scholars and researchers for decades, although the theory dose not originated in China, great achievements have been harvested and its social values are becoming increasingly prominent, playing a positive role in the development of national culture, promotion of democracy establishment and prevention of the Western cultural hegemony. Meanwhile, there are still many deficiencies and problems, for instance, lots of the researches still lack of depth, creativity, and breakthrough, and far from enough.

Naipaul, one of the representative writers of the post-colonial theory, was unfamiliar to most of the Chinese until he received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. Since then, Naipaul’s works began to be translated into Chinese in large numbers, and researches on Naipaul and his works increased rapidly. Since the first article that introduced Naipaul published on Foreign Literature Report in 1988, the researches, whether it is about Naipaul or his works, soared over the decades. But compared with the foreign study, it falls far behind. Currently, researches on Naipaul and his major works is deficient in depth, comprehension and novelty. Most of the Chinese scholars are focusing on the study of Naipaul’s well-known works in the middle and late stage of his writing career, but as for his first novel, The Mystic Masseur, few researches have been conducted. The novel tells a rather exaggerated, legendary and even ridiculous story of a poor boy, named Ganesh, from a rag to rich, from a struggling writer to a mystic masseur and finally to a hypocritical politician. Many critics thought it was just a satirical comedy, recording the story of a poor but lucky boy and it was not worth studying. Consequently, except from a few book reviews, the domestic researches on the book are very limited and lack of depth and novelty.

1.5 The Structure and Significance of the Research

This paper is composed of four chapters. The first chapter mainly provides background information for the research, introducing the author, the novel, the relative research theory, the current research status at home and abroad, and the layout and importance of the research. The second chapter focuses on describing how Ganesh exactly experienced growth and changes from three different aspects, including the change of identities, the reconstruction of ideals and beliefs, and the complete abundance of cultural origin. The third chapter intends to enunciate the causes that lead to Ganesh’s changes. In this chapter, the author ascribes it to the ruthless colonial domination, the abnormal social climate, and the destructive colonial hegemonic culture.