A Study Of Defamiliarization In The Homecoming

The Homecoming is a most enigmatic work for its obscurity and unintelligibility. This thesis attempts to explore defamiliarization achieved by techniques, in themes and in characters of The Homecoming and prove that it is defamiliarization that increases the work’s aesthetic value, width and depth and gives it power to shock.This thesis consists of three parts. The first part is the introduction, which contains background information of the author, the play, the technique of defamiliarization and a literature review. The body part is made up of three chapters. Chapter One discusses defamiliarization achieved by techniques: the structural irony and symbolizing. In the counterbalance and division of power between father and son, brother and brother, and in woman’s subverting man’s authority, the previous controllers lose power while the previous subjects gain power and thus a feeling of unfamiliarity occurs. By symbolizing, the defamiliarized relations in the text reflect the changes of the world and thus creates a sense of unfamiliarity. Chapter Two explores defamiliarization in themes. Because of defamiliarization, fake love is taken for romance, home descends to an animal jungle and the boundary between returning and betrayal blurs. Chapter Three analyzes defamiliarization in characters. Woman with single identity merely as a woman, a wife, or a mother suffers and is a victim; however, woman with multiple identities as a wife-mother-whore becomes a controller. Meanwhile, man’s authority is also weakened as he is given some feminine roles and tasks. The last part is a conclusion. Defamiliarization makes the work enigmatic and attractive, imparts it width and depth, breaks preconceptions, gives readers unfamiliar experience and makes them better experience the aesthetic value of the work and see critically the society and human beings.