ANALYZING F. SCOTT FITZGERALD’S SHORT FICTIONS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF NEW HISTORICISM: "FLAPPERS AND PHILOSOPHERS" AND "TALES FROM THE JAZZ AGE"

Abstract

Francis Scott Fitzgerald, who had a profound effect on American Literature of the 1920s, wished for making his readers feel the time he lived in every aspect for better or for worse. Therefore, besides fiction, his works include the reflection of real events. New Historical approach, which overtly points to historical and cultural context on the texts differently from the conventional conception of history, helps to read Fitzgerald’s works in the same manner. That movement, which was introduced by Stephen Greenblatt in the1980s, pursues a goal of scrutinizing the text by looking at the culture of the era. In this article, in the light of New Historicism it is aimed to unveil how the hegemonic ideology and culture of Fitzgerald’s time shape his and his characters’ identities and dreams. Accordingly, in Fitzgerald’s books Flappers and Philosophers and Tales from the Jazz Age, it will be scrutinized in terms of how the identities of the characters are on the way of shaping and eventually shaped without coercing in the direction of current hegemonic power.