KONSTITUISANJE IDENTITETA U ROMANU POLA ŽIVOTA V. S. NAJPOLA

Abstract

T his paper deals with the reconsideration of the concept of identity from the postcolonial studies perspective that insist on the socio-historical condition of identity. identity is constituted through a sense of belonging to a social group that is characterized by ethnic, cultural and historical specificities, but also through diversity from the other that is not-me. T he novel studies the journey of william somerset chandran from his native india to england, africa and berlin, which, bringing him to conflict/encounter with other cultures, leads him to identity crisis, but also to the return to his roots, tradition and heritage of india. The return to the roots, according to naipaul’s understanding, must not be interpreted as failure, but it should be celebrated as a given option to choose, since the journey, the introduction of the new cultures, the conflict with the other, is the way to the constitution of our identity which is not a fixed category depending exclusively on the place, yet it always has a fluid character.