A Study On Hstorical Riewriting In Caryl Churchill's Works

As the most prominent and popular female dramatist in contemporary Britain,Caryl Churchill(1938-)has gained plenty of awards continuously,such as Obie Award,Evening Standard Award,etc.She is well-renowned for her constantly updated theatrical techniques,extensive theatrical themes and eminent political awareness,In her productive and unceasing writing career,Churchill tirelessly explores social hot-spots and creates with all kinds of themes,such as political conflict,economical plundering,gender oppression,colonial oppression,etc.Different from the traditional themes and structure,her plays provide audience new spectacles and possibilities.Grounded on theory of New Historicism,this thesis selects Churchill's four historical plays,Cloud Nine(1979),Top Girls(1982),Vinegar Tom(1976)and Light Shining in Buckingham-shire(1976)as the research object,to explore Churchill's view of history by studying the way she uses to deal with the relationship between history and literature as well as the way to rewrite history.The thesis consists of five parts.The introductory part provides a brief introduction to Caryl Churchill and her four historical works,the general review of studies on Churchill's plays at home and abroad,the theoretical framework of this thesis,as well as the structure and purpose of this study.Chapter One discusses how Caryl Churchill breaks the chronological order in historical narrations and combines the relevant events together to reveal the regularity and connection between them which were ignored in historical chronological narrations.Chapter Two explores the significant role of "others" in Churchill's historical plays.In the process of rewriting history,Churchill casts her eyes on the marginalized groups who were expelled from the historical discourse and brings them back to the central position to utter different voices.Different from other female writers,Churchill does not limit her concern on the fate of females but also concerns the situation of males who are at the edge of the society.Through unearthing and tracking the stories of Others,Churchill aspires to recapture the historical truth.Chapter Three focuses on the attitude of the writer toward the interpreted history and how she redefines the relationship between literature and history.Melting constructive imagination or reasonable interpretation with the basic historical facts to fill the gaps in previous historical records,Churchill changes"history" to "interpreted history" for her narrative purpose.The last part is Conclusion.Based on New Historicism,this thesis analyzes the way Cary Churchill reinterprets and rewrites history and her unique view of history.In dealing with the relationship between history and literature,Churchill refuses to distinguish history from fiction,and challenges the traditional view that history is a set of objective facts while literary works are marked with its fictive nature.In the process of historical rewriting,she deconstructs the"History" to many "histories",breaks the established linear structure of historical records,dissolves the unitary,single history and confirms the existence of diverse histories.Her plays involve the deconstruction and reconstruction of history at the same time,in which history is reduced into a sort of historical narratives rather than a set of objective facts.