Abstract
E.L. Doctorow's The Book Of Daniel: Towards A Postmodern Conception Of Justice
Oya BERK
E. L. Doctorow's The Book of Daniel is a fictional account of the trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the early 1950s. Doctorow examines their case in multiple contexts - during the anti-communist hysteria of the McCarthy era, in the context of the New Left radicalism in the late 1960s
and lastly in the larger context of the biblical story of the prophet Daniel and his struggle with exile and persecution. Throughout the book, Doctorow employs deconstructive devices which undermine the unity and consistency of the text.
The fractured and disjointed narrative which resists completion and which seems to lead nowhere is aptly associated with Doctorow's conception of justice which denotes absence rather than presence and which has strong affinities with
the postmodern stance towards justice, especially with Derrida's reading of it in "Force of Law". Like the postmodern conception of justice which is allied with differance, deferral and impossibility, justice for the Rosenbergs is forever deferred to the future, never to be realized in the present.
Keywords
References
- Cooper. Steven. "Cutting Both Ways: Doctorow's Critique of the Left", South American Review 58:2 (May 1993): I I 1-125.
- Derrida, Jacques. ·'Force of Law: The ''Mystical Foundation of Authority". Deconstruction and the Possibility of Justice. Ed. Drucilla Corne), Michael Rosenfield and David Gray. New York: Routledge, 1992. 3-67.
- Dillon. Brian. "The Rosenbergs meet Nebuchadnezzar: the narrator's use of the Bible in Doctorow's The Book of Daniel", Critique 40:4 (Summer 1999): 365-378.
- Doctorow. E.L. "False Documents". In Jack London, Hemingway and the Constitlllion: Selected Essays, 1977-1992. New York: Random House, 1993. 151-164.
- The Book of Daniel. New York: A Plume Book, I 996. (First published in I 97 I). Emblidge, David. "Marching Backward into the Future: Progress and Illusion in Doctorow's Novels", South West Review (Autumn 1977): 397-409.
- Jameson, Fredric. Postmodemism or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham: Duke / University Press, I 999.
- Kauffman. Stanley. "Wrestling Society for a Soul", New Republic (June I 97 I): 25-27. Leckie, Barbara. "The force of law and literature: critiques of ideology in Jacques Derrida and Pierre Bourdieu", Mosaic 28 :3 (September 1995): 109-128.
- Marranca, Richard. "Finding a Historical Line: an interview with E. L. Doctorow", Literary Review 39:3 (Spring 1996): 407-413.
- Parks, John G. "The Politics of Polyphony: The Fiction of E. L. Doctorow", Twentieth Literature 37:4 (Winter 1991): 454-463.
- Prunier. Chanel. ''Doctorow's The Book of Daniel", Explicator 60:2 (Winter 2002): I 09- I I I. Tokarczyk, Michelle M. ''From the Lion's Den: Survivors in E. L. Doctorow's The Book of Demiel", Critique 29: I (Fall 1987): 3-15.
Abstract
E.L. Doctorow's The Book Of Daniel: Towards A Postmodern Conception Of Justice
Oya BERK
E. L. Doctorow's The Book of Daniel is a fictional account of the trial and execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg in the early 1950s. Doctorow examines their case in multiple contexts - during the anti-communist hysteria of the McCarthy era, in the context of the New Left radicalism in the late 1960s
and lastly in the larger context of the biblical story of the prophet Daniel and his struggle with exile and persecution. Throughout the book, Doctorow employs deconstructive devices which undermine the unity and consistency of the text.
The fractured and disjointed narrative which resists completion and which seems to lead nowhere is aptly associated with Doctorow's conception of justice which denotes absence rather than presence and which has strong affinities with
the postmodern stance towards justice, especially with Derrida's reading of it in "Force of Law". Like the postmodern conception of justice which is allied with differance, deferral and impossibility, justice for the Rosenbergs is forever deferred to the future, never to be realized in the present.
Keywords
References
- Cooper. Steven. "Cutting Both Ways: Doctorow's Critique of the Left", South American Review 58:2 (May 1993): I I 1-125.
- Derrida, Jacques. ·'Force of Law: The ''Mystical Foundation of Authority". Deconstruction and the Possibility of Justice. Ed. Drucilla Corne), Michael Rosenfield and David Gray. New York: Routledge, 1992. 3-67.
- Dillon. Brian. "The Rosenbergs meet Nebuchadnezzar: the narrator's use of the Bible in Doctorow's The Book of Daniel", Critique 40:4 (Summer 1999): 365-378.
- Doctorow. E.L. "False Documents". In Jack London, Hemingway and the Constitlllion: Selected Essays, 1977-1992. New York: Random House, 1993. 151-164.
- The Book of Daniel. New York: A Plume Book, I 996. (First published in I 97 I). Emblidge, David. "Marching Backward into the Future: Progress and Illusion in Doctorow's Novels", South West Review (Autumn 1977): 397-409.
- Jameson, Fredric. Postmodemism or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. Durham: Duke / University Press, I 999.
- Kauffman. Stanley. "Wrestling Society for a Soul", New Republic (June I 97 I): 25-27. Leckie, Barbara. "The force of law and literature: critiques of ideology in Jacques Derrida and Pierre Bourdieu", Mosaic 28 :3 (September 1995): 109-128.
- Marranca, Richard. "Finding a Historical Line: an interview with E. L. Doctorow", Literary Review 39:3 (Spring 1996): 407-413.
- Parks, John G. "The Politics of Polyphony: The Fiction of E. L. Doctorow", Twentieth Literature 37:4 (Winter 1991): 454-463.
- Prunier. Chanel. ''Doctorow's The Book of Daniel", Explicator 60:2 (Winter 2002): I 09- I I I. Tokarczyk, Michelle M. ''From the Lion's Den: Survivors in E. L. Doctorow's The Book of Demiel", Critique 29: I (Fall 1987): 3-15.
Details
| Primary Language | English |
|---|---|
| Subjects | Creative Arts and Writing |
| Journal Section | Makaleler |
| Authors | |
| Publication Date | August 16, 2014 |
| Submission Date | August 16, 2014 |
| Published in Issue | Year 2004 Issue: 16 |