What is V. S. Naipaul's central theory of civilization?
My work does not adhere to a single, neat 'theory' in the abstract sense, but rather to a consistent apprehension of how civilizations decline or stagnate. I have observed that societies built on imported ideologies or imposed faiths often suffer from a profound self-deception. The idea of the nation, when not organically grown from shared history and culture, can become a destructive fiction. When peoples are forced to adopt systems or beliefs that do not arise from their own soil, a kind of decay sets in. It leads to a failure to confront historical truths, a reliance on borrowed justifications, and ultimately, a loss of authentic selfhood. This is a pattern I documented in works like *In a Free State* and *A Bend in the River*.
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