ABSTRACT

A Passage to India is a novel written by Edward Morgan Forster which is published in 1924. It is his last novel, and it is also his most popular and widely circulated works. Few years ago, it was made into a movie and shocked the world. It is undoubtedly one of the most successful works of Edward Morgan Forster. Home and abroad, there are many studies about the novel with a variety of perspectives and themes. Among them, the study of colonialism and post colonialism occupies a large proportion. However, there are a small number of studies from the perspective the image studies of the British people to carry on in-depth research and discusses the origin, development process and outcome of cultural conflict. But now, in the 21st century, the communication of peoples has become more and more frequent because of the idea about globalization of the world. The paper tries to review the communication between the two peoples and carry the cultural criticism from the perspective of literature, and then, go deep into the exploration of how human thoughts, culture and the pattern of social life influence and, even to decide the attitude and behavior of people. Through the deep study of the images in the novel, A Passage to India, we can know the attitude towards life and the way one gets along with people, and learn how to face the conflict between peoples, and then to mirror  ours way of survival so that we may promote the harmony of cultural exchanges between different nations. Through the study of the images British people in the novel, the paper tries to dig deep into the themes of the novel and understand the root of cultural conflict, even the development process and the results.

Key words: Cultural conflict; Image theory; Stereotype

CONTENTS

摘要

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION-1

1. IMAGE THEORY-2

1.1 Definition-2

1.2 Classification-3

1.2.1 External research of the text-3

1.2.2 Internal research of the text-3

1.3 Significance-4

2. BRITISH IMAGES IN A PASSAGE TO INDIA-5

2.1 Ronny-5

2.2 Fielding-6

2.3 Adela and Moore-7

3. SIGNIFICANCE OF CULTURAL EXCHANGE-8

3.1 The Concept of Cultural Exchange-8

3.2 Stages of Cultural Exchange in A Passage to India-9

3.3 The Importance of Cultural Exchange-10

CONCLUSION-11

REFERENCES-12

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTTS-13