A New Historicist Interpretation Of The Grapes Of Wrath

John Steinbeck stands out as one of the most prominent writers in American literature of the 20th century.In 1937,he proceeded to the west with massive bankrupt agricultural workers.Later he wrote the novel based on what he had experienced and witnessed during the long journey.The novel mainly depicts a great number of bankrupt agricultural workers fleeing from famine to California and is regarded as the epic of American agricultural workers.It has aroused a strong social response since its publication.New Historicists holds that there is a close relationship between history and texts.They can not be separated from each other.History is not all about objective facts while texts are not all fictional.They are influenced and shaped by each other.History is an extended text and texts are condensed history.For the relationship between history and texts,Montrose proposes 2 concepts "textuality of history" and "historicity of texts".The former concept refers that we can not know an authentic past without the preserved texts;history is a kind of text that is written by history narrators,so it can be reinterpreted.The latter concept refers that texts are the products of social historical contexts;they can exert an influence on history.The Grapes of Wrath is the historical records of America in the 1930s,and it also reinterprets American history at that period of time,which reflects Steinbeck's historical consciousness.The novel is the product of social historical contexts of that time,and also exerts a positive influence on history.This thesis attempts to make an analysis of the novel under the guidance of the 2 concepts "textuality of history" and "historicity of texts",and further explores the relation between history and texts.The thesis consists of 5 chapters.Chapter 1 briefly introduces Steinbeck and The Grapes of Wrath and illustrates the purpose of the thesis.Chapter 2 gives a review and summary of previous studies of Steinbeck and The Grapes of Wrath.And then the thesis makes an overview of New Historicism and mainly introduces the 2 concepts "textuality of history" and"historicity of texts".Chapter 3 makes an analysis from the two aspects of "textuality of history".Firstly,The Grapes of Wrath is the historical records of America in the 1930s.It recorded the facts that numerous people fell into unemployment,poverty and the aggravating social conflicts during the Great Depression.Moreover,it recorded the miserable migration of American southern peasants represented by Oklahoma.Secondly,the novel is endowed with Steinbeck's reinterpretation of history.The Industrial Revolution,the American dream and the western myth all exerted a great influence on American society.Nevertheless,the mainstream history tended to exaggerate the positive side of those elements and covered up their negative side.As a writer with a sense of historical consciousness and social responsibility,Steinbeck exposed destructiveness of industrialization,disillusionment of the American dream and decline of the western myth.He reinterpreted these historical elements,giving people a more comprehensive understanding of history.Chapter 4 explores from the 2 aspects of "historicity of texts".Firstly,The Grapes of Wrath is the product of social historical contexts.The protagonists in the novel were imprinted by the times.Hit by the Great Depression,American society has changed a lot,which was displayed on the protagonists of the novel.The strike leader Tom Joad reflected the left-wing movement at that time;the former preacher Jim Casy reflected the religious faith crisis of Christianity;and the 2 indomitable females Ma and Rose of Sharon reflected the influence of Women's Suffrage Movement.Secondly,The Grapes of Wrath has aroused a great social response and has even attracted the attention of American government since it was published.Owing to the truth of the novel and its widespread influence,the then American president Roosevelt invited Steinbeck as one of the representatives and consulted him for social governance.The proposals of representatives like Steinbeck exerted a positive effect on society.Chapter 5 summarizes the contents of the body part and further explores the relation between history and texts.The Grapes of Wrath truly records the American society at that time,and reinterprets the historical elements exaggerated or covered up by the mainstream history.The novel is the product of social historical contexts at that time and exerts a positive influence on history.Concluded from the above analysis,we can know that historical narrative is not always single and linear,but multifaceted and complex.Texts record history and provide us a window to know about the past.Nevertheless,due to different social historical contexts,living environments and ideologies of different history narrators,history is mingled with their personal reinterpretations.In addition,the relation between history and texts can not be simply comprehended as foreground and background.Literature creation is influenced by social historical contexts while literature also has the power to construct history.