A Study On Indeterminacy In The Human Stain

Philip Roth is one of the most influential Jewish writers in contemporary America.The Human Stain,published in 2000,was highly recommended by the New York Times Book Review upon its publication and won the Faulkner Award the following year.Critics and scholars have conducted in-depth and meticulous research on The Human Stain primarily from aspects of themes,writing styles,comparative studies,etc.However,indeterminacy,the main feature of postmodernism,has rarely been expounded by critics and scholars.This thesis takes The Human Stain as the research object in terms of postmodern theory and criticism.Through careful reading and combing of the text,this thesis attempts to systematically explicate the features of indeterminacy in the novel embodied in plot,language and image.The thesis is composed of three parts: introduction,body and conclusion.The first part briefly introduces Philip Roth and his novel The Human Stain,summarizes the research status quo of The Human Stain at home and abroad and the theoretical background of this article,that is the theory of indeterminacy in postmodernism.The main part of the thesis consists of three chapters.Chapter one primarily illustrates the indeterminacy of plot from three aspects: blankness,incoherence and openness.The blankness in plot is illuminated from the aspects of the unreliable depiction and the confusing time order.The incoherence of plot includes non-linear description and fragmented structure.The openness of plot is developed from three aspects—the content of Zuckerman’s fictional book The Human Stain,the homonymous novel created by Roth;the death of Coleman and Faunia and the death of Faunia and Farley’s children.The indeterminacy of plot breaks the reader’s horizon of expectations,leaving space for thinking,enabling them to participate actively in the construction of the text.Chapter two mainly explores the indeterminacy of language from aspects of language game and the illusory reality constructed by language.Language game includes the dialogues blurring reality and fictionality and the inserted judgement by the narrator.The illusory reality constructed by language is reflected from aspects of distinction between the fictionalized story and reality,and fictionality exposed by language.By illuminating the indeterminacy of language,this thesis reveals the language dilemma of individuals in postmodern societies.Chapter three examines the indeterminacy of image.The main characters in the novel have multiple and contradictory identities,which are mainly reflected from the ambiguity of the inner self and the discordance between the inner and outer self.The indeterminacy of image reflects the survival dilemma of individuals and their multiple contradictory identities in the postmodern society.The last part,conclusion,summarizes the main characteristic of postmodernism,indeterminacy in The Human Stain.Through the systematically analysis of the indeterminacy in the novel,this thesis reveals the chaos and disorder of the postmodern society and shows Roth’s profound concern about the fates of the main characters and provokes a further reflection on human condition.Meanwhile,this thesis provides a comparatively new perspective for the studies of The Human Stain which enables readers to interpret the text from multiple perspectives,thereby renders a deeper understanding of the novel.