The Interaction Between Texts And History-a New Historicist Reading Of Light In August

William Faulkner was one of the greatest American South novelists in thetwentieth century. Light in August, one of the masterpieces in the series ofFaulkner’s novels set in his fictional saga “Yoknapatawpha County”, is one ofthe controversial novels written by Faulkner. Faulkner portrayed a panoramicview of South American as well as that of human nature in Light in August,showing multiple themes such as the predicament of loneliness andpuzzlement of the southerners, racist fight and prejudice, harmful effect ofCalvinism and Christianity on man’s mind, the shadow of ancestors, andredemption of human beings.Emerging, developing, and booming in the1980s, New Historicism is amode of literary study based on the parallel reading of literary and non-literarytexts, usually of the same historical period. New Historicism attends primarilyto the historical and cultural conditions which produced a text, as well as themeanings, effects and later critical interpretation and evaluation of the text.Light in August arouses the extensive attention of both western andChinese critics. However, the conventional study puts its focus on the contents.Enough attention is not paid on something outside the text. Light in Augustcontains profound historical connotations, yet the connection between thenovel and New Historical has remained for the most part unexplored.Consequently, based on the previous studies, the present thesis, with the method of close reading, attempts to reinterpret Faulkner’s historicalconsciousness in Light in August from the perspective of New Historicism,which will add a significant understanding to the text and history relationshipin this novel. Meanwhile, this thesis reflects New Historicism is feasible fortext interpretation and sheds enlightenment on the future studies of theapplication of New Historicism.The introduction briefly introduces Faulkner and his major works, andliterature review of the Light in August. Chapter two gives a very shortintroduction to New Historicism and its core concepts of textuality of historyand historicity of text so as to make a good theoretical preparation for the textanalysis in the next part. Chapter three explains the historicity of text, whichdemonstrates Faulkner’s historical consciousness. The production of the textis Faulkner’s negotiation with the contemporary society. Both Faulkner’spersonal experiences and the social background contribute to the creation ofthe text, which also holds historical importance. The text is influenced byhistory and in return it aids to mould the history being part of history. Chapterfour concerns about the textuality of history. Faulkner reconstructs a SouthAmerica provincial society after the Civil War. He successfully interweavespolitical events with the local people’s daily life. Through the description ofthe historical events, New Historicists find what has been unrevealed before.In order to reconstruct his own interpretation of history, Faulkner describescommon people’s daily life to reflect contemporary history. This thesis manages to conclude that Light in August is a production based on thehistoricity of text and textuality of history. Faulkner successfully delivers us apowerful epic of the reconstruction of the South America according hisunderstanding. What’s more, Faulkner shows his persistence concern withuniversal humanity.