The Quest for Identity: An Analysis of Langston Hughes's The Big Sea
Keywords:
Autobiography, Identity, Marginality, Blacks or African-AmericanAbstract
The history of human civilization, culture and progress tells that, in major parts of the world, the powered class had remained at the centre and remaining major community remained at the fringe. The powered class, without considering egalitarian ideology either on the base of religion or rational, preferred their prosperity first and neglected the other community. The marginal community remained unnoticed and were just puppets in the hands of the powered class. They did not have their identity or power to protest or put forth their individual or collective thought before the society. Autobiography paves way for the search for the identity of the marginalized. Identity is one of the most contested issues in marginal literature. The identity, the symbol of voice is not just the author's but of a whole community. Thus, it is not a one man's identity we are looking into but the identity of a whole community which the author tries to represent.
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