An Interplay Between Text And History:A Study Of The Sense Of An Ending By Julian Barnes From The Perspective Of New Historicism

Julian Barnes(1946-)is considered as one of the most influential British writers.He is also called “The Three Big British Writers” together with Martin Amis and Ian MacEwan.Up to now,he has written many novels and The Sense of an Ending is one of the most representative works which won the Man Booker Prize in2011.The Sense of an Ending is a historical novel related to personal history,in which Barnes not only describes the past experiences of Tony,but also records the unreliable history in a reminiscent way.As a postmodernism writer,many of his works concern about issues of history,so does The Sense of an Ending.This novel embodies Barnes' s unique view of history,thus,the thesis analyzes it from the perspective of New Historicism.This thesis uses New Historicism to give a new interpretation of the relationship between text and history.New Historicism breaks the traditional boundary between text and history,which emphasizes the interplay between text and history.Through the exploration of the relationship between text and history,textuality and historicity are fully revealed.Besides,New Historicism focuses on the lowercase and plural“histories” instead of the official “History.” As a matter of fact,the subversion of“History” is the deconstruction of the grand narrative.The Sense of an Ending is a great combination of text and history from the perspective of New Historicism.In the meantime,it is also the perfect embodiment ofthe core concepts of New Historicism which include “the textuality of history” and“the historicity of texts.” For one thing,history is textualized.New Historicism asserts that history is a kind of narration so the author analyzes how history is textualized by employing some narrative strategies.Furthermore,the authenticity and objectivity of history are queried by deconstructing “History” with “histories.” For another thing,text is historicized.The first aspect is that the text consists of many historical events so the text has the feature of historicity.The second aspect is outer influences which include Barnes' s life experiences and postmodern historical background.Besides,The Sense of an Ending,as a historical text,has a deep influence on history and society.At last,Barnes' s unique view of literature and history is fully illustrated by studying the relationship between text and history.This thesis explores the relationship between text and history from the perspective of New Historicism to uncover the truth of history.It is also of great significance for the readers to study the relationship between them from the perspective of New Historicism.