A Study Of The Underground Railroad From The Perspective Of New Historicism

Colson Whitehead(1969-)is a highly influential contemporary African-American writer.So far,Whitehead has published seven novels and two non-fiction literary works.In his works,Whitehead explores the problems of race,human rights,history and living conditions of the African Americans.The Underground Railroad(2016)is Whitehead's sixth published novel.This novel tells the story of a slave girl,Cora,who flees from the southern plantation all the way to the North to pursue freedom with the help of underground railroad in the middle of the 19 th century.Since its publication,The Underground Railroad has received extensive attention from the academic community.It won the 2016 National Book Award and the 2017 Pulitzer Prize.In The Underground Railroad,Whitehead skillfully uses a variety of narrative techniques to reconstruct the history of slavery in the form of a literary text.This is consistent with the view advocated by New Historicism that there is no strict boundary between literature and history,and that the historical dimension in literary studies should be restored.The thesis employs the core concepts of New Historicism,“the textuality of history” and “the historicity of texts”,to interpret The Underground Railroad,aiming to explore the history of slavery reconstructed by Whitehead,the textual strategies employed by Whitehead and the historical significance of the novel.This thesis consists of three parts: the Introduction,the main body and the Conclusion.The first part is the Introduction,which mainly introduces Colson Whitehead's life and literary achievements,the main content of The Underground Railroad and the current research status of this work at home and abroad.The second part is the main body,which includes three chapters.The first chapter introduces the theoretical framework of the thesis.This chapter firstly gives a general overview of New Historicism.Then the core concepts of this theory,“the textuality of history” and “the historicity of texts”,are emphatically discussed.The second chapter takes the theoretical concept,“the textuality of history”,asan entry point to explore the historical events and historical stories of marginal characters constructed by Whitehead in the novel.New Historicism holds that only through the text can people understand the history.This chapter focuses on the historical events and characters remodeled by Whitehead,analyzes the meaning behind these historical events and characters,and interprets the textual strategies which Whitehead employs in reshaping history.The third chapter,from the perspective of “the historicity of texts”,discusses the external factors that influence the creation of The Underground Railroad,analyzes the ways the novel participates in historical shaping and exposes the historical significance of the novel.Whitehead's identity as an African-American writer and his life experience,as well as the long-standing racial problems in American society are external factors that influence the writing of The Underground Railroad.By restoring the scenes of the slave trade and plantation life in the 19 th century,The Underground Railroad participates in the construction of African American history as a literary text,presenting the history of violence and bloody slavery,while revealing the tragic experiences of black female groups and urging people to face up to history.These still have great significance in today's society.The third part is the Conclusion.By analyzing the “textuality” and “historicity”of The Underground Railroad,this thesis explores Whitehead's representation of African-American history that has been suppressed by the mainstream discourse.The novel demonstrates Whitehead's reflections on black history and racial issues as an African-American writer,and can arouse readers' concerns about racial problems and the living environment of African-Americans.