奈波爾，出身於加勒比海千里達，是位選擇自我放逐的旅英印度裔作家，有著典型的多重身份及國族認同的問題。因此在他的作品中，常以宏觀的角度探討文化問題，拒絕定於一格，限於一地。本論文試圖從奈波爾的兩本小說「身在自由邦」及「大河灣」中的人物，在身處異鄉的情況下，所遭遇的種種難題切入，來審視後殖民時期無可避免的人種混雜及文化調適的課題。並藉由開放空間的思維以及對民族國家意識型態的解構，來為身處後殖民亂象中的身份認同，重新找尋定位。
第一章對於奈波爾的文化地理背景做一簡單的介紹，並從奈波爾的例子中清楚闡釋本體論中根深蒂固“家”的觀念，在這後殖民混種雜糅及遷徙流離的時代背景下已不復追尋。
第二章以放逐者的角度檢視奈波爾的寫作歷程。藉由身處局外的視界，奈波爾克服敘事盲點，還原事實真相。這一章並同時舉「身在自由邦」的故事為例，在僵化的歷史包袱下，人們如何淪為後殖民解放後「自由」的犧牲者。
第三章透過奈波爾的放逐視界來批判在「大河灣」中第三世界好高騖遠的東施效顰和針對殖民主義衍生的反論述—民族本質主義，以及它們對人民的荼毒殘害。由此作者清楚指出，現今第三世界所面臨的困境乃在於這兩個相牴觸的意識型態中進退失據，進而導致亂象叢生，人民幾無寧日。
第四章主張後殖民時代中「歷史論述」已變為意識型態角力場，尤有甚者，歷史已變為打壓異己，殘民以逞的手段。人們再也無法藉由“追本溯源”來找尋個人的身份認同。「世事本如斯」，歷史本是一個不可逆的過程。任何回歸靜態歷史根源的企圖都將歸於徒勞。因此作者主張應摒棄時間性歷史對身份認同的羈絆，藉由開放的空間性來將其重新定位。
第五章總結奈波爾秉持「文學為歷史服務」的信念，以灼灼目光來觀照第三世界芸芸眾生的苦難，並藉由如椽巨筆，對後殖民時期亂象提出針砭之見。他主張與其緊抓已被意識型態所僭奪且不切實際的虛構歷史，不如跳脫僵化窠臼，在自由開放的空間內，藉由衝擊激盪的文化融合，來為下一個世代找尋新的契機。同時，在雲遊苦行僧的寫作過程中，奈波爾終能將憤怒昇華為關懷，藉此找到了自我，找到了安身立命的所在。

Being a Trinidadian with Indian ancestry, V. S. Naipaul adopts a career of exile writer to England. His multiracial and hybridized background is reflected in the themes of his works: deracination, homelessness, and displacement. My attention in this thesis is to study V. S. Naipaul’s two novels In a Free State and A Bend in the River from an exile perspective. And by the study of the dialectics between identity and spatiality, I try to make a significant contribution to the relocation of post-colonial identity.
Chapter I is a brief survey of V. S. Naipaul’s cultural and racial heritages. From his example, I note that in this hybridized and migratory era, the ontological static “Home” is no longer existent or traceable.
Chapter II is a testifying of V. S. Naipaul’s authenticity of his exile writing. I argue that from his “outsider” vision, V. S. Naipaul is privileged to see the aspects which those inside are blind to, and further penetrate the pretenses to the heart of matters. The issue of “casualty of freedom,” how people fall prey to the post-colonial insecurity, is also brought forward by the discussion of three stories in In a Free State.
Chapter III shows Africa’s quagmire of being trapped in the dilemma between essentialism and colonial mimicry. Being vividly delineated in A Bend in the River, the shallowness and uncertainty have cast the Third World countries and their people into a devastating circle.
Chapter IV is a diagnosis about the impropriety of traditional application of temporality to identity. First, through the deconstruction of rigid race and nation discourse, I try to release post-colonial identity from the fetters which ideologized history has endowed and further redefine it more liberally. Second, I further argue that to achieve a meaningful relocation of post-colonial identity, one has to reconsider identity from the perspective of space, rather than that of time.
Chapter V is an affirmation of the literary achievement of V. S. Naipaul, who insists on unveiling wretched situations in the Third World, and meanwhile incessantly offering heartfelt concerns for those sufferings. He urges people to wake up from the myth of history and discard the hindering ideology. Only through the relocation of post-colonial identity can they find a better chance for next generation. At the same time, by devoting himself in the process of writing, V. S. Naipaul can eventually find a harbor to rest his agitated soul, after so many perturbing journeys on furious seas.

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