Historical Writing-Historicity And Textuality In World's Fair

Edgar Lawrence Doctorow,a productive and prollfic writer of 20th century,makes his mark in American literary field.Doctorow starts to get more fame since his publication of Worlds Fair for it is a book which brings him the National Book Award for fiction in 1985.Worlds Fair is one of Doctorow's masterpieces in which Doctorow depicts a vivid picture of American society in 1930-1940.Set during the Great Depression,the novel focuses on a Jewish family's sufferings in the Bronx and a world seen through their eyes.It depicts the hardships the family and other common people encountered during the Great Depression,the fear they endured for the imminent Second World War,and two journeys they went to the New York World's Fair in 1939.This thesis is to explore the interaction between history and fiction of Worlds Fair with the application of Louis Montrose's theory of New Historicism.Based on Montrose's theory,this thesis seeks to analyze the tendency of New Historicism in World's Fair.Historicity of text and textuality of history in this novel will be discussed through detailed analysis and interpretation from the perspective of New Historicism.Also this thesis will discuss the strategies Doctorow used in the novel to make the story readable as well as blur the boundary between history and fiction.In addition,the thesis is going to research the relationships between history and text,history and fiction in E.L.Doctorow's World's Fair.Structurally,the analysis will be carried out according to the following steps:Chapter one is the introduction and literature review,including the brief'introduction to the novel World's Fair and its author E.L.Doctorow.The previous abroad and domestic researches on the novel are also presented in this chapter.Chapter two is the theoretical foundation of the thesis,including the development of New Historicism,as well as the major standpoints of "historicity of text" and“textuality of history”.Chapter three analyzes the historical events showed in Worlds Fair based on the idea of "historicity of text".In the novel,Doctorow reconstructs the Great Depression,the period before World War Two and the New York World's Fair through the experiences of the ordinary people rather than the official documents.Chapter five discussed how World's Fair reveals the fiction and the textuality of history and demonstrates the inclination of New Historicism.As for the analysis of textuality of history in the fiction,the author mainly talks about how Doctorow reconstructs the novel with his strategies and narrative art.Last chapter is conclusion,in which the author draws a conclusion that the novel embodies the inclination of "historicity of text" and "textuality of history".World's Fair reveals a more special and vivid history to readers and brings readers a new interpretation to the reality and fiction of history.This thesis aims to help people to build clear historical opinion and reconsider history.