| A Bend in the River is the representative work of the 2001 Nobel Prize winner, V. S. Naipaul. In the field of literary criticism, most literary criticisms about this novel put their emphasis on its Cultural Studies especially post-colonialism, except some articles about the pessimistic historic view of Naipaul, little can be found to have written from the perspective of New Historicism. Based on an intensive study of the text, this thesis gives an interpretation of the pessimistic historic theme of A Bend in the River from the perspective of New Historicism. Through the major event occur in the novel's backdrop, we can easily find that the novel is set in Zaire, (currently the Democratic Republic of the Congo) during the rule of Mobutu SéséSeko in the late 1960s and early 1970s, though the author gives no direct mention of the name of the country and the president. It was a period of great social and political upheaval in Congo, during which the people suffered a lot from the turbulence of the country where violence and kills were rampant. The main purpose of the thesis is to find the connections between the text and history through careful reading and analyses thus reveal the"historicity"of the text.The thesis consists of six chapters:Chapter 1 is the introduction. This chapter gives firstly a brief introduction to A Bend in the River as well as its author, V. S. Naipaul, including his life, representative works as well as his position in English literature. Then it elucidates the purpose and significance of the thesis and gives the literature review, in which the theoretical perspective and the starting points different from the previous studies are illustratedChapter 2 elucidates the theoretical horizon–New Historicism, including its emergence, its development, the major critics of this school and its central concern as well as its empirical significance to the current thesis.Chapter 3 is"The creatures in the inferno". In this chapter, the paper puts its arguments in three aspects. Firstly, it starts from the first-person narrator; it is from the stand-by's vantage point that the thesis reveals the afflictions of Zairians, who experience the social and political upheavals of the country. Then, from the vantage point of the representatives of the new African, the thesis indicates that though they are optimistic about the future of Africa and their own fortune, under Mobutu's despotic rule, their dreams could never come true. Moreover, through the sufferings of the"minor roles"of the story, the paper proves that either the hopeful immigrants, or the local people, the lowest of low, or the nervous but staunch supporter of the new order, or the ambitious officers of the President, no one can escape the destiny to be abandoned, fooled, or killed.Chapter 4 is"The chaotic world". Its illustration goes from four aspects. The first aspect is about the bloodshed in the second rebellion and its influence upon the people, who could find no sense of security when wars and kills approach. The second is about the African anarchism and massacres, the President kills to get rid of his opponent, polices kill the people to revenge themselves, slaughter becomes the scene for everyday life in the country. The third part deals with the casual man-woman relationships, which is the result of war and violence. It is the turbulence of the society that leads to the disorder of the human relations. The last part deals with the life condition of the local people, so that it reveals the influence brought about by social upheavals.Chapter 5 is"Stupid King Leopard". It reveals the underlying cause of the social upheavals and the afflictions of the people by means of exposing the kleptocracy of the Big Man, mimicry and arbitrariness of his policies, the disorder of the state construction, corruption of officers etc. By tracing the plots of the novel back to its historical background, the novel indicates that, Naipaul is writing about Africa, however, he is not writing Africans, but the Big Man, Mobutu and his despotic rule.Chapter 6 is the conclusion. This part sums up the statements in the previous chapters, and elucidates the theoretical and practical significance of interpreting A Bend in the River from the perspective of New Historicism. Thus, the paper points out that when interpreted from a New Historicist perspective, we might gain a fresh evaluation of Naipaul and his A Bend in the River. Naipaul is not merely a neo-colonial writer, but quite an insightful"historian"; in addition, A Bend in the River is a significant political novel instead of a purely neo-colonial one. The novel sounds a warning to the people in the Third World that in face of the challenges and opportunities of the changing world, how we should make right the relationships between countries and the relationship between government and its people to get out of the predicament of poverty, thus gain real independence and prosperity. |
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