The Historical Writing In Sarah Waters’ Novels

Sarah Waters is a writer of high-profile in the literary world of contemporaryBritain. So far, she has written five novels, which have obtained a number of literatureawards and the widespread attentions and high praise from the European andAmerican academia and critics. Her novels have multiple genres, rich content andunique perspectives. Her style of writing is delicate and fluid, which shows the realhistorical features of British society in different periods by the ethereal atmosphere.New historicism is an ideological trend of society and culture, which gives areinterpretation and political interpretation to the historical texts. Under its influence,this thesis is based on the previous studies, analyzes the value concepts and thenarrative characteristics of Waters’ novels from the perspective of new historicismand summarizes the real writing of her novels in different periods of history.This thesis is altogether divided into four parts: The introduction part mainlyintroduces Sarah Waters’ personal experience and the domestic and foreign literaryreviews of her works. The first chapter introduces the theory of new historicism andthe new historical spirit of Waters’ novels. The second chapter focuses on the valueconcepts of freedom and equality in her novels from the perspective of newhistoricism. The third chapter starts from the narrative characteristics and analyzes thenarrative perspective and strategy，indeterminacy and openness of the novels. The lastpart is the conclusion, in which Sarah Waters reinterprets the history from a newperspective and discourse that reflects the distinct new historical spirit. This paperinterprets her novels from the perspective of new historicism, sums up the deepthemes of the novels and opens up a new way of the research on her works.