الفهرس 
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Abstract
This dissertation begins by considering the intellectual and cultural relations between Britain and India, which influenced the selected novels. These relations stemmed from economic and political factors. The economic relationship started in the 17th century when the British decided that India should be the centre of their activity in Asia. In the late 18th century, the British established control of India. By that time the British power was widely extended in India. The class and caste divisions of Hindu society and the supremacy of Britain’s sea power made the subjection of India possible to Britain. Then, administrators were sent to different parts of India in order to realize British supremacy. This administration of British India led to many changes, and deeply affected the life and structure of Indian society. The political relationship started in the early 19th century when Britain declared British India to be British territory. At that time English was made the language of government and higher courts, and western knowledge and ideas flourished in Indian society. This period was characterized by imperialism, westernization and the spread of western education. By the year 1857, the British held complete political control of India. That
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was the beginning of British imperial power in India which lasted for a hundred years until India got its independence in 1947.
Western influence was manifested in all aspects of life in Indian society. India was heading at social and cultural westernization. Also English education in India led to changes in Indian ways of thought. The British Indian cultural contacts began on terms of equality, later replaced by a sense of superiority on the part of the British. The economic and political supremacy caused an attitude of intellectual superiority. British intellectual arrogance and snobbery dominated over Indian culture. Thus, feelings of unrest and tension were produced between the British and the Indians.
Postcolonial societies cannot avoid the continuing effects of colonization, especially the cultural effect, as colonial domination manages to disrupt the cultural life of a conquered people. The imposition of foreign ideas and cultural representation makes the cultural situation complex. The process of cultural difference initiates new signs of identity. The interaction between the Indian tradition and the western culture manifested itself in the change of the Indian cultural identity that affected Indian personal identity and the self-
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construction. This cultural displacement constitutes a disturbance in the relationship between the person who is searching for a true self and identity and his society. Cultural identity is an important contributor to a person’s well being.
This dissertation examines the relationships and differences between Indian and Western cultures and their effect on personal identity in novels By R.K.Narrayan and Raja Rao. In The Vendor of Sweets and The Painter of Signs, Narrayan presents changes in Indian society and consciousness, and he explores postcolonial changes and their influence on cultural identity. In these two novels he portrays the Indian daily life in which modern ideas clash with ancient tradition, and the protagonists are experiencing change through western influences. In The Vendor of Sweets, Jagan is a representative of Indian culture and Mali is a representative of Western culture, the clash between them is symbolic of the clash between the two cultures. This conflict is also presented in The Painter of Signs, between Raman and his aunt. Narryan’s protagonists, Mali, Raman and Daisy, rebell against Indian social and religious customs and adopt western notions of individuality. They believe in the superiority of western thoughts and
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principles. This reflects how Indian cultural identity has been strongly influenced by colonization.
Rao’s two novels, The Serpent and the Rope and The Chessmaster and His Moves, show the impact of the post-colonial condition on cultural identity. These novels dramatize the relationship between India and the West, and the confrontation of Indian and Western cultures. The protagonists Ramaswamy and Sivarama are confronted with new values and ideas which are different from the Indian traditions and beliefs. They find themselves in a dilemma as a result of their internal differences. They are confused between two cultures: the Indian and the Western, this leads to a sense of rootlessness. They feel that they have two identities and cannot decide which one to choose. Thus, they both feel isolated and at loss, there is nowhere to go to. Both R.K.Narrayan and Raja Rao try to show the effects of colonialism on the Indian cultural identity.