A Thematic Study On The History Of Love By Nicole Krauss

Nicole Krauss, a contemporary Jewish American female writer, is an international emerging young talent. Her novels are complex and unique in narrative style, involving profound social significance. It is not difficult to find that Krauss’works show multiple themes, especially in her second novel, The History of Love. This novel has a wide range of audiences with far-reaching social significance. This thesis utilizes the method of text analysis to conduct a research from the perspective of thematic study and to analyze how she presents various social problems and themes she intends to reveal in The History of Love.The thesis consists of three chapters. The first chapter probes the first theme in The History of Love:survival in loss and loneliness. This chapter at first analyzes in detail loss and loneliness reflected in characters. Then, it discusses how to survive in the war and how to survive in the modern society which is full of loss and loneliness via Nicole Krauss’s characters. There are two ways to survive:writing and the search for identity, presence and concern.The second chapter demonstrates the second theme in The History of Love: inheritance of the Jewish culture and convergence of the Jewish and the American culture. This chapter first analyzes the embodiment of the theme of Jewish cultural inheritance in the aspect of literature and the memory of the characters, and then explains the convergence of the Jewish and the American culture in literature and life of characters. Thus this chapter shows Nicole Krauss’s views on culture:the importance of cultural inheritance and current cultural convergence.The third chapter explores the third theme in The History of Love:the relationship between man and nature and the relationship among people. This chapter firstly examines two sides of relationship between man and nature: harmony and conflict. Then it describes the three aspects of relationship among people:loss of voice, ethnic diversity and love. Thus, this chapter illustrates Nicole Krauss’s call for the protection of the environment and the present situation of interpersonal communication.