英语论文网

Chapter Ⅲ Reaction to Nothingness: Divergence of Sartre and Lahiri on Others .................. 36

3.1“Hell is Other People”: Sartre’s Proposition .................. 36

3.1.1 Subjectivity and the Self-identity .......................... 36

3.1.2 The Threat of Others .............................. 38

Chapter  Ⅳ Transcending Nothingness: Meaning Construction in The Lowland ............................ 55

4.1 Lahiri Against Sartre: to Exist as the Way to Transcend Nothingness ........................... 55

4.1.1 Re-checking Sartre’s Proposition of“Being as Nothingness” .... 56

4.1.2 Re-interpreting Lahiri’s Position of“Existing rather than Being” .................................. 57

Conclusion ................................ 72

Chapter IV  Transcending Nothingness: Meaning Construction in The Lowland

4.1 Lahiri Against Sartre: to Exist as the Way to Transcend Nothingness

Sartre’s existentialism believes that in a world full of contingency, human actions are futile and existence eventually returns to nothingness. Existence is empty, meaning is empty. Sartre’s attitude towards human survival and search for meaning in the absurd world is pessimistic. Although Lahiri agrees with Sartre’s existentialism that the world is absurd and existence is nothingness, these can be changed through human actions and active survival in Lahiri’s novel. This part analyzes Lahiri’s rebuttal to Sartre’s view of the existence of nothingness. Through reexamining Sartre’s view that existence is nothingness and Lahiri’s way of being, this thesis probes into Lahiri’s views on the world and meaning construction in her novels. 

4.1.1 Re-checking Sartre’s Proposition of “Being as Nothingness”

Sartre put forward the view that existence is nothingness, which can be analyzed from two perspectives: the existence of self and the relationship between self and other. In Sartre’s existentialist philosophy, nothingness is the origin of world meaning. “Man must create himself in nothingness, nothingness is the starting point of life.” (Yu 152-159) Nothingness is also a kind of being, and Sartre defines nothingness as being for itself. He believes that existence is logically prior meaning that existence comes before nothingness, and nothingness entangles existence. It is the existence of being that nothingness can exist, that is to say, man is the ground of the existence of nothingness.

Conclusion

This thesis aimed to explore the existentialist thoughts in Lahiri’s novel The Lowland and the author’s own thoughts on existentialism from the perspective of Sartre’s existentialism. The thesis discussed the existence of human beings to transcend nothingness through the construction of meaning so as to seek for self-meaning and self-value in Lahiri’s novels The Lowland. The Lowland specifically talks about the construction and loss of the meaning of survival in the real life of four self-centered beings: Subhash, Udayan, Gauri and Bela. In the absurd world, different people constantly trans本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。