Con-scripting the masses: False documents and historical revisionism in the Americas.
详细信息
- 作者：Weiser ; Frans-Stephen.
- 学历：Ph.D.
- 年：2011
- 导师：Lenson, David,eadvisorMoebius, Bill,eadvisorPatai, Daphneecommittee memberMarentes, Luisecommittee member
- 毕业院校：University of Massachusetts
- Department：Comparative Literature
- ISBN：9781124541839
- CBH：3445197
- Country：USA
- 语种：English
- FileSize：4289012
- Pages：394
文摘
Dominick LaCapra argues that historians continue to interpret legal documents in a hierarchical fashion that marginalizes intellectual history, as fiction is perceived to be less important. This dissertation analyzes contemporary literary texts in the Americas that exploit such a narrow reading of documents in order to interrogate the way official history is constructed by introducing false forms of documents into their narratives. This type of literary text, or what I label "con-script," is not only historical fiction, but also historicized fiction that problematizes its own historical construction. Many critics propose that the new historical novel revises historical interpretation, but there exists a gap between theory and textual practice. Adapted from E.L. Doctorows notion of "false documents," the con-script acts as an alternative that purposefully confuses fiction and nonfiction, providing tools to critically examine the authority maintained by official narratives. By revealing the fictive nature of these constructions, the con-script alerts readers to the manipulation of documents to maintain political authority and to misrepresent or silence marginalized groups. The recent revision of American Studies to include a hemispheric or Inter-American scope provides a context for applying such political claims within a transcultural framework. I compare texts from English, Spanish, and Portuguese America in order to identify shared strategies. After a survey of the historical novels development across the Americas and a critical theory overview, I analyze three types of con-script. "The Art of Con-Fessing" juxtaposes texts from the three languages via Jay Cantors The Death of Che Guevara, Augusto Roa Bastos Yo el Supremo, and Silviano Santiagos Em Liberdade. These false documents present themselves as apocryphal diaries written by revolutionary leaders or activists. The authors demythologize untouchable public figures through the gaps in their "own" personal writing. "Mediations of Media" features Ivan Angelos A Festa, Tomas Eloy Martinezs La novela de Peron, and Ishmael Reeds Mumbo Jumbo. These journalists interrogate the role of media and political corruption within the construction of national identity； the false documents appear as newspaper clippings, magazine articles and media images. Finally, the subjective process of archiving is examined in "Con-Centering the Archive" via Aguinaldo Silvas No Pais das Sombras, Francisco Simons El informe Mancini, and Susan Daitchs L.C.