INDO- CANADIAN DIASPORA CULTURAL IDENTITY AND NATIONALITY IN “THE ENGLISH PATIENT” OF PHILIP MICHAEL ONDAATJE

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze cultural identity and nationality in Michael Ondaatje’s “The English Patient “from the post-colonial concept of Self, Nationalism and National identity. Michael Ondaatje was born in Srilanka during world war II, grew up in London and is currently living in Canada. The novel is set in World War II in  Italy that won the Booker Prize and the 1996 film adaptation went on to win widespread critical acclaim and nine Academy Awards. The novel deals with characters are searching their own roots and loss of national identity.  I will discuss how cultural identity and nationality is reconstructed among four characters who are avoiding many lost aspects of their previous lives in an Italian villa during world war II. The people dwelling place where a group of people from different countries, cultures and even religions share habits, customs and are able to coexist. The novel highlights the multicultural unison of four major characters portrayed in the novel. It explores two aspects of circulation and development. The protagonist of the character is Almasy who is the center and the focus of the action, despite the fact that he is without name or identity for much of novel.  Many people assume his identity through his character, his work and his interaction with others. Importantly, he chooses this identity rather than inheriting it.  Certain environments in the novel lend credence to the idea that national identity can be erased. One of the major traumas of the modern Diaspora is the sense of the loss of identity.