A Study Of Postmodern Historical Narratives In Waterland

Graham Swift(1949-)is one of the most important writers in the contemporary English literature,and the publication of Waterland makes him be well known around the world.Based on the research achievements of domestic and foreign scholars,this paper analyzes postmodern historical narratives in Waterland.This paper is divided into three parts: introduction,the main body and conclusion.The introduction gives a general outline of swift’s literary career and achievements,as well as the research contents and methods of swift’s work.The main body is composed of the following three chapters along the way of deconstructing history and constructing history.The first chapter analyzes how swift deconstructs the grand narrative in the novel.This chapter analyzes how the peripheral narration “small history” deconstruct the traditional “big history”;how the “historical creator” represented by the Atkinsons and “historical narrator” represented by the Cricks transform each other;how “female narrative voice” challenge “male narrative voice” The second chapter explains how swift constructs history with a new concept of space-time view.The new concept of space-time view includes the postponement,juxtaposition and traversing of time.The space view includes physical,psychological and social space.The third chapter discusses how swift uses intertextuality to weave a new history.It discusses the intertextuality between the novel and Faulkner’s Absalom,Absalom!,Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations and Eliot’s Middlemarch.It also explores the intertextuality interms of genre,such as stories,fairy tales,legends,etc.This paper proposes that Waterland deconstructs the traditional “grand narrative”,and constructs a new history with space-time view and intertextuality,which broadens the space and latitude of people’s attitude toward history.