“Superhistory” and the “Spirit of Transgression”:E. L. Doctorow’s The Book of Daniel
Resource
NTU Studies in Language & Literature Number 15, 41-62
Journal
NTU Studies in Language & Literature Number 15
Pages
41-62
Date Issued
2006-06
Date
2006-06
Author(s)
Chang, Kenny
DOI
246246/2006121215550453
Abstract
The Book of Daniel, E. L. Doctorow’s first widely-acclaimed novel, is a fictional exploration of the controversial case of Julius & Ethel Rosenberg who were wrongfully executed for treason by the Truman Administration during the Red Menace of the 1950s. The novel demonstrates not only Doctorow’s strong aversion to social injustice---one of the themes that run through all his work---but also thenovelist’s successful experiment in fictionalizing a historical event. Historical actuality & imaginary episodes are deftly woven together into a literary construct. To Doctorow, official history is to a certain extent fictionalized, & fiction can be a “superhistory” in which a writer may amass available historical data, reconstruct them in an intricate configuration, & thus offer dialectical perspectives on sociopolitical realities. A writer, as it were, is a “perceptive criminal”---a criminal who opens himself to perception, is sensitive to the life of the downtrodden, & possesses “a spirit of transgression” to facilitate social change.
Subjects
superhistory
official history
simulation
perceptivn criminal
spirit of transgression
history of the oppressed
SDGs
Publisher
臺北市：外文學系
Type
journal article
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