The Illusionary Love and an Unfinished Dream — An Analysis of Hope in The Ghost Writer文献综述

The Illusionary Love and an Unfinished Dream

-- An Analysis of Hope in The Ghost Writer

Abstract

The Ghost Writer is one of the representative works of Philip Roth. The main characters in this novel, Zuckerman, Lonoff, and Amy, all attract extensive attention because of their distinctive characteristics. There has been a lot of research on The Ghost Writer both at home and abroad. The existing research mainly starts from the following three perspectives: the writing techniques of the article, the shaping of the identity of the characters, and the Jewish culture. However, Hope, Lonoffrsquo;s wife, is always ignored by readers, which is in some extent the same as her situation in life. There are many examples in this novel indicating that Hope is objectified, which have still not been researched. Therefore, this research will help provide another way to interpret this novel.

Key Words: The Ghost Writer; Philip Roth; Hope; Objectification

Literature Review

1 Research on The Ghost Writer

There has been a lot of research on The Ghost Writer both at home and abroad. The existing research mainly starts from the following three perspectives: the writing techniques of the article, the shaping of the identity of the characters, and the Jewish culture.

• 1. Research on writing techniques

The Ghost Writer has obvious characteristics of postmodernism. Liu (2005) believed that this novel is “a bold popularization rewriting of classic works”, aiming at “turning solemn into comical” and turning positive historical figures into negative ones. But this kind of rewriting also reveals the confusion of creativity for young Jewish writers. Chen (2013) interpreted this novel by analyzing its postmodern text features, such as metafiction, parody, language games and black humor, and then analyzed the deep meaning contained in the novel according to these characteristics. Li (2014) expresses Rothrsquo;s viewpoint by analyzing the writing technique of metafiction in this novel. Cui amp; Hu (2015) interpreted the novel from the perspective of postmodernism, deeply analyzing the embodiment of de-classicism, intertextuality and metafiction in this novel. Yao (2015) analyzed the twining narrative method employed in the novel. Zhan (2018) pointed out the Rothrsquo;s endeavor to subvert the narrative models in classic literary works Annersquo;s Diary from a postmodernism angle.

Besides, Rothrsquo;s humor has also been studied. Rugoff (1985) analyzed the humor and the muse of Roth in The Ghost Writer. Wang (2016) also analyzed the art of humor embodied by Roth in The Ghost Writer, focused on Rothrsquo;s thinking on serious social and racial issues behind this kind of humor, and also explored the difference and connection between his humor and Jewish humor and black humor.