Writing History With Texts

Khaled Hosseini(1956-),an Afghan-American writer.He is one of the most popular writers in recent years.There have been three novels since his first novel The Kite Runner was published in 2003.As soon as his novels are published,they have been widely concerned by both domestic and foreign readers,with a global sales volume of more than 40 million.As an Afghan-American writer,he is concerned about this suffering country,the living conditions of Afghan,and is keen to explore their inner world.Therefore,Khaled Hosseini attempts to depict a vivid picture of Afghan life through these novels.As Husseini’s third novel,And the Mountains Echoed presents readers a more magnificent panorama of Afghanistan.This novel records many historical events,taking the social environment at that time as the background,intertwining with the joys and sorrows of several generations over 60 years.Hosseini describes Afghan different ways of life from different classes,and mentions Afghan in exile to the foreign countries and their behavioral and spiritual changes.Through reading this novel,readers can get approach to the history of Afghanistan and the spiritual world of Afghan.Therefore,I think this is not a simple novel,but more like a blend of “text” and “history”.New historicism breaks the boundary between history and texts,which also means breaking the authenticity of it,even redefining history.New historicism holds that the way to obtain history is no longer a single historical record.While they believe that texts are the only way to obtain history as always.Montrose puts forward two important concepts of new historicism: “textuality of history” and “historicity of text”.It emphasizes that history is transmitted by texts.Like other texts,texts containing history are mixed with the author’s subjective consciousness.Therefore,history in the texts may be stigmatized,refined or even changed.When narrating history,the writer will also use the writing methods and skills the same as the formation of texts.Similarly,texts can reflect the specific history,or the reshaped history.