A New Historicist Interpretation Of Goodbye To Berlin

Goodbye to Berlin is one of Christopher Isherwood’s most significant semi-autobiographical works,which documents the secret histories of various marginal groups in Berlin at the end of the Weimar Republic.Owing to his meticulous portrayal of Berlin’s urban life in the 1930 s,the novel has gradually established itself as a literary classic.The fragmented narration and the juxtaposition of history and fiction coincide with the interrelationship of history and text proposed by New Historicists.Therefore,this thesis,taking New Historicism as the theoretical cornerstone,further explores the historicity and the textuality of the novel,reveals Isherwood’s historical consciousness and value orientation,and presents a more comprehensive intertextual relationship between the novel,the writer,and the sociohistorical context.Louis Montrose puts forward the proposition of “the historicity of texts” and “the textuality of histories”,and points out the reciprocal concern between them,thus expanding the historical dimension of literary studies.“The historicity of texts”emphasizes that all texts are the products of history,and they in turn actively participate in the construction of history.“The textuality of histories” means that we can only know the authentic past through the preserved texts;and history is an extended text which can be reinterpreted.So,based on the two propositions of Montrose,this thesis attempts to make a further analysis of the interrelationship between text and history reflected in the novel.Besides the introduction and the conclusion,this thesis is divided into four chapters.Chapter 1 is the review and summary of the related studies of Isherwood and Goodbye to Berlin both abroad and at home.Chapter 2 gives a brief introduction of New Historicism and mainly focuses on the reciprocal concern put forward by Montrose.Chapter 3 echoes “the historicity of texts” and introduces the sociohistorical background of the novel,illustrating the polarized economy,the turbulent political situation and the rise and fall of cultural life in Berlin before Nazi came to power.Then further points out the significant role that the novel has played in the construction of history.Chapter 4echoes “the textuality of histories”.Through the close reading of the six separate yet loosely connected “histories”,this thesis points out that each marginal group has its own unique history;meanwhile,Isherwood presents a camera-like narration of the daily lives of Berliners as a way to fill in the blanks of the authentic history;the reason why Isherwood presents a history of Berlin that deviates from the traditional historical narrative is his sympathy for the tragic fate of ordinary Berliners,as well as his exposure to and profound reflection on “the banality of evil”.This thesis places Goodbye to Berlin in a sociohistorical context for an in-depth analysis and argues that the daily lives of Berlin citizens as portrayed in the novel is a reflection of the politics,economy and culture of the Weimar Republic at a micro level.Meanwhile,the novel is not a mechanical reflection of history,but has had a great impact on history since its publication.Due to the differences in ideologies and writers’ personal experiences,historical texts are often full of subjectivity and inevitably incorporate the writers’ personal interpretations.At the same time,all history is contemporary history,and the interpretations of history have a strong sense of nowness.Thus,Isherwood’s in-depth portrayal of “the banality of evil” embodied in ordinary people is of great relevance to the history of the late 1930 s,showing his reflection on fascist atrocities and the policy of appeasement.