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From quest to inquest : narrations of the self
Author
Lim, Yiru
Supervisor
Wong, Patricia
Abstract
The quest for ontological meaning has been a mainstay of literature throughout history but never as prominent and urgent as in the modem age. The modern world has engendered disassociation and we feel estranged from a world that is alien to us, which precipitates the compromising of quest because the world, the arena in which quest is carried out, is now indifferent and strange. As a result, ontological uncertainty plagues us and leads us to question the validity of our lives. It is this questioning that is of utmost concern and we see how quest must now encompass inquest-a condition that reflects the inability of hitherto accepted values and meanings to sustain us. The ontological concerns of the 'making of self are pertinent because we create ourselves by narrating our existence. This narration is a dialectic between self and the world and strives to articulate a being and existence that is 'real' to us, thereby providing meaning. The American experience, with its emphasis on the making of the individual is a microcosm of the narrations of self that take place on a larger scale. As such, it is also in American texts that we can observe the phenomenon of quest and inquest unfolding. But the surfacing of inquest does not mean that quest is now dead. Inquest is part of the quest to discover and expose meaning that can potentially be more valid and real to the person-a necessity if we are to continue living and becoming.
Date Issued
2005
Call Number
PS374.S44 Lim
Date Submitted
2005