The Art Of Defamiliarization In Edward P. Jones’ The Known World

Edward P. Jones’The Known World, a novel about black slaveholders, has received high praise ever since it was published. In many aspects, what the novel writes about is unfamiliar to readers, and this unfamiliarity seems to have some connections with the popularity of the novel. Therefore, the present author tries to resort to the theory of defamiliarization to analyze how the effect of defamiliarization has been achieved in the novel, and further explore the reason why the novel is highly acclaimed.First of all, the thesis discusses the defamiliarization in language achieved through rhetorical techniques, including analogy, irony, parody and humor. Then, it indicates that many narrative strategies such as anachoronies, perspective, and discontinuity of plot help Jones actualize the effect of defamiliarization. Finally, it analyzes distinctive theme by focusing on the defamiliarization in the binary oppositional relationship between blacks and whites and in the binary oppositional attitudes of the two races towards slavery.Based on the above elaboration, the present author concludes that The Known World gives readers a fresh perception by defamiliarizing the ordinary language, changing traditional ways of narration, disturbing readers’habitual mode of thinking, and breaking stylized theme of traditional novels of slavery. At the same time, the utilization of these approaches also increases readers’ difficulties in reading and comprehension and prolongs their aesthetic experience. Thus, the novel achieves a good effect of defamiliarization, which impresses readers and becomes one of the most important factors that make the novel quite conspicuous among readers.