HISTORY AND SELF-FORMATION IN THE NOVELS OF E.L. DOCTOROW

Abstract

Theories of deconstruction and poststructuralism have revealed the limits of representation in language, which have affected history, fiction, autobiography and conceptions of the self. Doctorow's novels relate the writing of history to the creation of identity, as the protagonists narrate their life-stories and recount events of the past. This thesis examines the relationship between conceptions of history, the problems of writing history and the construction of identity that takes place in the novels, as a means of characterising Doctorow's fictional practice. The thesis proceeds on the theory that Doctorow' s novels are constructed on the basis of paradox. All attempts at representation are inherently paradoxical and metaphoric. Paradox is present in the way the protagonists desire to be free from the linear patterns of history, yet repeat the patterns of their fathers' lives. Paradox is also present in the father figures that the protagonists seek. These are the men who "make history", but the selfhood promised by their mythic representations is illusory and fraudulent. The more perceptive narrators eventually create fluid selves, which are capable of confronting the contingency and apparent absurdity of human existence. This is achieved through the practice of writing about the past. A new historical form is proposed in the novels, where paradoxes are not resolved, alternative points of view co-exist, and fiction and history interpenetrate and transform each other to create a new mode of perceiving reality. Musical motifs serve as metaphors for this narrative form. Because Doctorow's novels embrace a wide range of concerns, this thesis approaches his work through various perspectives: theories of historiography, existentialist philosophy and autobiography are employed in a close reading of the novels, which will hopefully elucidate the complex nature of Doctorow's novelistic practice, and the close relationship between the writing of fiction, history and philosophy.