Resistance Against Neo-Colonialism in Margaret Atwood's Surfacing

Abstract

This thesis entitled Resistance Against Neo- Colonialism in Margaret Atwood's Surfacing seeks spatio-cultural roots for identity. Surfacing (1979) explores identity crisis of a fragmented and dislocated female character in a neo-colonial world. Her resistance against hegemonic intention of American colonizers is the central essence of the novel. The discourse of resistance demonstrates the complex question of identity for an English speaking Canadian female. For the protagonist, identity has become problematic because of her role as a victim of colonial force by Americans and their cultural imperialism or neo-colonialism. Folded with memories, the narrator begins to realize that going home means entering not only another place but another time. As a result, the wild island exerts its elemental hold and she is submerged in the language of the wilderness. She sees that what she is really looking for is her own past or identity. At last, identity lies on the vast cultural domain of the past.