MASARYK UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE Shyam Selvadurai: Multiple identities Bachelor thesis Brno 2015 Superviser: PhDr. Irena Přibylová, Ph.D. Written by: Kateřina Halfarová Prohlášení Prohlašuji, že jsem závěrečnou bakalářskou práci vypracovala samostatně, s využitím pouze citovaných literárních pramenů, dalších informací a zdrojů v souladu s Disciplinárním řádem pro studenty Pedagogické fakulty Masarykovy univerzity a se zákonem č. 121/2000 Sb., o právu autorském, o právech souvisejících s právem autorským a o změně některých zákonů (autorský zákon), ve znění pozdějších předpisů. ………………………… Kateřina Halfarová 2 Acknowledgment I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor PhDr. Irena Přibylová, Ph.D. for her inspiration, support, valuable advice, and time she devoted to me. I am very thankful for her guidance that helped me finish my thesis. 3 Anotace Bakalářská práce „Shyam Selvadurai: multiple identities“ se zabývá vlivem střetu kultur na hlavní hrdiny knihy Swimming in the Monsoon Sea napsanou Shyamem Selvaduraiem. Hlavním cílem práce je zjistit, zda a eventuálně jak, střet kultur ovlivňuje vývoj hrdinů knihy v jejich dospívajícím věku. Zda má multikulturalismus dopad na změnu stávající identity. Teoretická část práce se věnuje popisem multikulturalismu jako celku, multikulturní literatuře se zaměřením na autory pocházející z jižní Asie, protože autor rozebírané knihy pochází ze Srí Lanky. Další kapitoly jsou věnovány přímo autorovi Shyamu Selvadurai a jeho knize Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. Praktická část bakalářské práce analyzuje román a zaměřuje se na vývoj hrdinů v důsledku střetu kultur v oblasti rodiny, školy, náboženství, kultury, jazyka a osobního života. Klíčová slova Multikulturalismus; identita; literatura pro dospívající čtenáře; Shyam Selvadurai; střet kultur; Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. 4 Anotation The bachelor thesis “Shyam Selvadurai: multiple identities” is focused on the influence of culture clash on main‟s characters in the book Swimming in the Monsoon Sea by Shyam Selvadurai. The aim of the thesis is to find out, if and eventually how the culture clash contributes to the development of book‟s young characters and if multiculturalism has an impact on the change of their current identities. The theoretical part of the work describes multiculturalism in general, its origins and aspect which determine it. This part also expounds multicultural literature with the focus on South Asia authors, because the author of the analysed book comes from Sri Lanka. Another two chapter are devoted to the author Shyam Selvadurai and his book Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. The practical part of the bachelor thesis analyses already mentioned book and concentrates on the development of its characters in connection with the culture clash in the areas of family, school, religion, culture, language and personal life. Key words Multiculturalism; identity; young adult literature; Shyam Selvadurai; culture clash; Swimming in the Monsoon Sea. 5 Content Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 8 Exploring multiculturalism ............................................................................................. 10 1 Multiculturalism as a phenomenon .......................................................................... 10 1.1 Origins of multiculturalism ............................................................................... 11 1.2 Aspects of group diversity ................................................................................ 13 1.3 The ethnic diversity in Canada .......................................................................... 16 2 Multicultural literature ......................................................................................... 18 2.1 Origins of the concept ....................................................................................... 18 2.2 The importance of multicultural literature ........................................................ 19 2.3 Canadian multicultural literature ....................................................................... 19 3 Shyam Selvadurai ..................................................................................................... 23 3.1 Selvadurai‟s work .............................................................................................. 23 3.2 Selvadurai: multiple identities ........................................................................... 24 4 Swimming in the Monsoon Sea ................................................................................ 25 The change of identity .................................................................................................... 27 5 Family life ................................................................................................................ 28 6 Social identity ........................................................................................................... 31 6.1 School ................................................................................................................ 31 6.2 Religion ............................................................................................................. 33 6.3 Culture ............................................................................................................... 34 6.4 Language ........................................................................................................... 37 7 Personal life .............................................................................................................. 39 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................... 43 Bibliography ................................................................................................................... 45 6 1 Printed sources ......................................................................................................... 45 2 Online sources .......................................................................................................... 47 Appendix ......................................................................................................................... 48 1 Map of Sri Lanka ..................................................................................................... 49 2 Photography of Shyam Selvadurai ........................................................................... 50 3 Mynah bird ............................................................................................................... 50 4 Sri Lankan typical clothes ........................................................................................ 51 7 Introduction The main goal of the thesis is to find out how clash of cultures contributes to the development of a young character in the book Swimming in the Monsoon Sea (2005) by Shyam Selvadurai. As multiculturalism is nowadays a worldwide issue, I would like to show how it influences one‟s personality and his or her development of identity. I have chosen this topic because in my fourth year of bachelor studies I had a course called Canadian and Australian literature, which I was really interested in. We had an option of reading the young adult novel Swimming in the Monsoon Sea within the course. The story caught my attention and after reading the novel, I became aware of multiculturalism. Therefore, I wanted to find out more about this worldwide issue and for that I have chosen it as my bachelor thesis topic. I obtained many useful materials about multiculturalism in the seminars I visited. Since I am studying to be a future teacher, I also thought it would be essential to know more about multiculturalism, as I might have children from minority groups in my class. Firstly, I focus on the topic of multiculturalism in general. In order to obtain a vision of what multiculturalism really means. Within the first chapter I expound where multiculturalism comes from, which are the aspects that determine it, the question of identity and I also take a closer look to the ethnic diversity in Canada. The second chapter is devoted to multicultural literature. I describe the origins of the context, its importance, I focus on Canadian multicultural literature and then on the South Asian ethnic literature, as the author of the book Swimming in the Monsoon Sea comes from Sri Lanka. In this chapter I mostly report to Kamboureli‟s book Making a Difference. Canadian Multicultural Literature. (1996) I dedicate the whole third chapter to the author Shyam Selvadurai itself, to illustrate his life and literal production. Shyam Selvadurai is the author whose work I will be analysing in my practical part of the thesis. Therefore, I would like to introduce the author in more detail. The following chapter is called Swimming in the Monsoon Sea and is there to introduce the plot and main characters of the story. I also look at the explanation of the books name and author‟s attitude towards the story. 8 In the practical part of my thesis, which is called The change of identity, I analyse the story and compare main character‟s family, social, and personal identity prior the visit of his Canadian cousin with the obtained identity which comes with the influence of character‟s cousin stay. I look for the key moments in the book which have an impact on the creation of identity. In my analysis I mainly report to a novel
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