A Tentative Interpretation Of The "Theory Of Replacement" In Homer And Langley From Postmodern Perspective

E.L.Doctorow's Homer and Langley displays a saturnine rendering of New York City in the twentieth century.Through adroitly revamping the real historical figures,the Collyer brothers and their life scraped into zilch,Doctorow juxtaposes postmodern interrogations on centralization,modernity and carceral.In the novel,Langley's "Theory of Replacement" permeates the whole text but receives little attention.The present author finds the word "replacement" in the novel is to figure the annihilation and rejection of heterogeneous minorities,the loss of humanity under the banner of modernity,and the carceral nature lurking under the gloss of civilized society.Hence,the present author conducts a thematic interpretation by close textual analysis on the "Theory of Replacement" to see through how culture centralization banishes "insane" Collyer brothers by derogatory names and how Doctorow subverts the rosy picture portrayed by technology and"objective" news media.Through dissecting Langley's hoarding and his self isolation,the thesis also reveals how civilized society disciplines social members by observation,normalzing judgment and examination.The present author finally draws the conclusion that "Theory of Replacement"unveils the mask cloaked on a string of beliefs and perceptions that have been firmly postulated.Through reconstructing the Collyer brother's sufferings,Doctorow implicitly expresses how cultural centralization and existing beliefs pulverize heterogeneous entity's life into ash,and how people are unconscious of the calculating power mechanism that is behind legitimacy.