A New Historicist Reading Of Thomas Pynchon's Vineland

Vineland, Thomas Pynchon's fourth novel, is famous for its retrospection to the past, yet in the critic field the connections between the novel and histories have remained for most part unexplored. Consequently, based on the previous studies, the present thesis attempts to approach Vineland from the perspective of New Historicism, which will add a significant understanding to the relationship between text and history.Concentrating on the histories described in Vineland, the present study explores how Pynchon reconstructs the American histories by following the historicity of texts and the textuality of history. Moreover, the present thesis discusses the issue of power, because in the process of Pynchon's reconstruction power comes to the core of American conflicts between the government and the people.On the basis of the above analysis, the present author argues that Vineland reconstructs American histories and represents the power relationship of the twentieth-century America.