<b>Literacy, imagination and autonomy in <i>House for Mr. Biswas</></b> - doi: 10.4025/actascilangcult.v34i1.10020

  • Mariana Bolfarine Universidade de São Paulo - USP

Abstract

The present article tackles the concepts of literacy, imagination and autonomy in  A House for Mr. Biswas (1961) by V. S. Naipaul. The novel reveals that the spread of the English language and Englishness became inevitable during British Imperialism since one of the instruments for its propagation was the imposition of the colonizer’s set of values. It will be shown that although limited and detached from the learners’ reality depicted in the narrative, the missionary school education engendered the imagination as a driving force upon which the protagonist, Mr. Biswas, relies in order to achieve his dreams of autonomy. Theory is mostly foregrounded on works by David Slater, Boaventura dos Santos and Diana Brydon.

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Author Biography

Mariana Bolfarine, Universidade de São Paulo - USP
Mestranda na área de Estudos Linguísticos e Literários em Inglês pela FFLCH - USP.
Published
2011-12-21
How to Cite
Bolfarine, M. (2011). <b>Literacy, imagination and autonomy in <i>House for Mr. Biswas</></b&gt; - doi: 10.4025/actascilangcult.v34i1.10020. Acta Scientiarum. Language and Culture, 34(1), 103-106. https://doi.org/10.4025/actascilangcult.v34i1.10020
Section
Literature

 

0.1
2019CiteScore
 
 
45th percentile
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0.1
2019CiteScore
 
 
45th percentile
Powered by  Scopus