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Macau Periodical Index (澳門期刊論文索引)
- Author
- Lei, Yanni；Li, Zixin
- Title
- Disorientation, mimicry, and progression: the identity evolution in Miguel Street
- Journal Name
- 澳門科技大學學報
- Pub. Info
- Dec 2025, Vol. 19, No. 4, pp. 43-64
- Link
- https://www.mustjournal.com/CN/10.58664/mustjournal.2025.12.003
- Keyword
- V.S Naipaul；Miguel Street；Homi Bhabha；Post-colonialism
- Abstract
- The intricacies of identity within Miguel Street have consistently captivated scholarly attention, with a predominant focus on identity loss. Remarkably scarce are analyses delving into the characters’ mimicry and development. Employing Homi Bhabha’s theories of mimicry, hybridity, and “unhomeliness”, this paper articulates a dynamic evolutionary framework for the identity of the colonized in Miguel Street. It argues that the characters progress through and interact with three stages: spiritual unhomeliness, mechanical mimicry, and hybrid progression, thereby demonstrating how the postcolonial individuals evolve their strategies of identity construction. The analysis reveals Naipaul’s emphasis on the colonial subjects’ ongoing and active agency. They are not passive victims of fate; instead, they actively shape their dignity through cultural synthesis, along a nonlinear but discernible trajectory of development. Paragraph Headings： 1. Introduction 2. Disorientation: the spiritual unhomeliness 3. Mimicry: the mechanic replication 4. Progression: advancement amidst hybridity 5. Conclusion