The Ambivalence of Empire: Guilt, Orientalist Imagination, and Language in Anthony Burgess’s The Malayan Trilogy

• Main Authors: Chee-Mun Goh, 吳子文
• Other Authors: Hsien-Hao Liao
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/14992097879354230770

碩士 === 臺灣大學 === 外國語文學研究所 === 97 === In this thesis, I argue that Anthony Burgess’s The Malayan Trilogy expresses an ambivalent attitude toward British imperialism and colonialism. On the one hand, he shows that British colonial project is doomed to failure through the characterization of Crabbe, the protagonist; on the other hand, a whole range of racial stereotypes and exotic images of Malaya are exploited to fulfill the Oriental imagination and colonial gaze of Western readers. In the first chapter, I argue that Burgess’s critique of British colonialism is mainly prompted by his Catholic guilt as well as his identity as an exile. The issue of guilt is examined on three levels, including the guilt of Burgess, Crabbe, and the British Empire. In the second chapter, I provide an overview of the racial stereotypes and inept British characters portrayed in the novel. Many racial stereotypes are created to satisfy the need of English readers, who are eager to consume the exotic culture in the Far East. In the third chapter, I analyze how Burgess’s ambivalent view of colonialism is also reflected in the language of the novel by analyzing the “hybridized” language, which combines local languages and Standard English, in the trilogy.