Landscape, Memory and Identity — A Study of the “Mauritius” in the Works of J.-M. G. Le Clézio

Abstract

Abstract: In the works The Prospector, The Quarantine and Revolutions, Le Clézio takes “Mauritius” as the central space to tell the story about the journey of return. The writer constructs the island mainly by the characters' memories. Through the relationship between memory and time, he alludes to the intimacy of the island with origin and identity. Memories reserve the island and the island in the memory pushes the characters to return, while the perceived island awakens memory and makes them recognize the history and the life. From memory to reality, the characters can understand a truth in the landscape that goes beyond the limits of society, history and culture. In the end, the characters find their identity, which, according to them, is not based on a choice of a group or a culture, but on an understanding between human existence and the world.

Key words: Le Clézio, Mauritius, landscape, memory, identity

Fan Yanmei, Xu Jun. Landscape, Memory and Identity — A Study of the “Mauritius” in the Works of J.-M. G. Le Clézio[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2017, 39(3): 34-43.

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