On The Postmodern Textual Features Of Philip Roth’s The Ghost Writer

Philip Roth is one of the most controversial writers in contemporary American literature. Some critics view his literary texts as a challenge to the traditional western values because of the irrationalism, belief crisis and obscenity bordering on pornography embodied in his texts; while others laud Roth’s skills of exuberance and inventiveness since his rich imagination and unique narrative techniques lead readers to appreciate his texts’implications. As a mark of Roth’s entering into the rank of postmodern writers, The Ghost Writer is not a long story while its concise narration contains incomparable literary charm. This thesis aims to interpret The Ghost Writer and its reflections on the problems of American reality by investigating its postmodern textual features:meta-fiction, parody, language game and black humor.The thesis consists of six chapters. Chapter one mainly introduces Philip Roth and the characteristics of his texts, including The Ghost Writer, investigates the domestic and foreign researches on Philip Roth and his texts, and proposes the main content, methods, purpose and significance of this thesis.Chapter two focuses on the meta-fiction in The Ghost Writer, including two parts. Part one investigates the feature embodied in the text:writer’s intrusion narration and strong self-consciousness. Part two analyzes another embodiment of meta-fiction:the fictionality of text.Chapter three focuses on the embodiment of parody in The Ghost Writer. The adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank is the most typical representation of this feature. From the analysis of the postmodern adaptation, the purpose of the parody in The Ghost Writer could be possibly appreciated.Chapter four mainly discusses the language game in The Ghost Writer. Possible special implications invite the readers’involvement in the language game in regard to many names in the text:"The Ghost Writer", "Manny" and "Hope". Intertextuality and ambiguity as language games result in the plot’s stagger between reality and fiction. The textual meanings have to be interpreted by disclosing the veil of the superficial language of the text.Chapter five analyzes the black humor in The Ghost Writer. Through the embodiment of black humor in characters and situations, Roth aims a satire at the disharmony between human and the surroundings.Chapter six concludes the research with Roth’s reflections on the Jew’s authorship and writing devices by the postmodern textual features in The Ghost Writer.