Root-seeking Awareness in The Kite Runner Abstract As a profound and powerful Afghan novel in America, The Kite Runner which is created by Khaled Hosseini has received widespread attention since its publication. The Kite Runner tells a tale of two wandering souls journey of pursuit of cultural identity. Unlike previous studies which mainly discuss Hassan’s tragedy, or Amir’s betrayal and redemption and racial dispute, this thesis attempts to interpret the novel from the perspective of root-seeking awareness. As an Afghan-American novelist, Hosseini longs for his own cultural identity and expresses this desire by the description of Amir’s pursuit and love to Afghanistan, wishing the whole world to pay attention to the problems of Afghanistan: racial discrimination and terrorism after miserable wars and tribulation. 47232

Key words: wandering souls; cultural identity; root-seeking awareness

 论《追风筝的人》中的文化寻根意识摘  要作为震撼美国的一部阿富汗小说，卡勒德·胡赛尼的作品《追风筝的人》自问世以来，备受关注。《追风筝的人》讲述了两颗漂泊的心灵努力追寻文化认同的故事。与国内外研究多从哈桑的悲剧，阿米尔的背叛和救赎，种族冲突所不同的是，在本文中，笔者试图从文化寻根意识的角度来解读这部作品。作为一位美籍阿富汗小说家，胡赛尼如同阿米尔一样，在美国和阿富汗两种文化中努力地追寻文化认同。胡赛尼通过主人公的文化认同追寻来表达自己对于文化认同的渴望以及对于阿富汗的热爱。他希望通过这部作品让世人去关注阿富汗土地上种族歧视，恐怖主义以及战争带来的苦难等现实问题。

毕业论文关键词：漂泊的心灵，文化认同，文化寻根意识

Contents

1. Introduction 4

1.1 Khaled Hosseini and The Kite Runner 4

1.2 A Survey of The Kite Runner Studies 5

1.3 The Organization of this Thesis 6

2. Wanderings in The Kite Runner 6

2.1 Wandering in the Ethnic Conflict 7

2.1.1 Hassan 7

2.1.2 Ali 9

2.2 Wandering between Motherland and Migrant Cultures 10

2.2.1 Baba 10

2.2.2 Amir 11

3. An Interpretation of the Journey of Seeking Root 12

3.1 Different Ways of Seeking Root 12

3.1.1 Hassan’s Persistence in “For you, a thousand times over” 12

3.1.2 Baba’s Pursuing Cultural Identity by Saving Himself and Others 13

3.1.3 Amir’s Achieving Self-redemption 14

3.2 Kite as the Symbol of Root 16

4. Conclusion 17

References 19

1. Introduction

The Kite Runner, as the maiden work of Afghan writer Khaled Hosseini, stunned the whole world in 2003 with its touching, brilliant and thought-provoking plots. Published after 911, the great novel provides us with a totally new and real panorama of Afghanistan which removes misunderstanding towards Afghanistan and impels the whole world to get reacquainted with Afghanistan.  

1.1 Khaled Hosseini and The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini was born on March 4, 1965 in Kabul, Afghanistan. His father worked as a diplomat and his mother was a teacher. Influenced by his mother, Hosseini read a great deal of poets and novels when he was young, which had great benefits to his future writing. And when Hosseini was 11 years old, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the war erupted. In order to escape the war, the family moved to France. Four years later, they applied for asylum in the United States, where Hosseini later became a citizen. Stepping into a strange circumstance, Hosseini started to learn English and through hard effort he was admitted by School of Medicine in the University of California where he earned his M.D in 1993.  论《追风筝的人》中的文化寻根意识:http://www.youerw.com/yingyu/lunwen_49376.html