AWEJ for Translation & Literary Studies, Volume 6, Number3. August 2022                              Pp. 142-151
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol6no3.10

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The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of “the Other” in Robert Warren’s Blackberry
Winter

Xue Wang
School of Foreign Languages
Central China Normal University, Wuhan, China
Email: 2913367146@qq.com

 

Received:06/08/2022              Accepted:07/26/2022              Published: 08/24/2022

 

Abstract:
Robert Warren’s Blackberry Winter is popular for its distinction in depicting a variety of critical issues from the perspective of a 9-year-old protagonist. Set in a small village in the United States after World War II, Blackberry Winter tells the story of Seth, the hero, when he was nine years old, in which the deconstruction and reconstruction of the image of “the Other” are widely indicated. The novel reveals the author’s profound insights towards society, history as well as human beings by creating various images of “the Other” worth discussing. The purpose of this paper is to interpret the deconstruction and reconstruction of the human “the Other” image and non-human “the Other” image in Robert Warren’s Blackberry Winter from three levels—gender, race, and natural poetic. Based on the previous research related to imagery, alienation and ecological thinking, this paper will shed new light on the textual significance of “the Other” in Blackberry Winter by manifesting how human “the Other” image and non-human “the Other” image are deconstructed and reconstructed throughout the novel. The analysis of the novel is unfolded by close reading and comparison. It is found that the novel challenges the binary opposition between “the Self” and “the Other” through deconstructing and reconstructing marginalized and stereotyped images of human “the Other” and non-human “the Other”.
Keywords: Blackberry Winter, deconstruction, reconstruction, image; the Other; binary opposition 

Cite as:  Wang, X. (2022). The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of “the Other” in Robert Warren’s Blackberry Winter.  Arab World English Journal for Translation & Literary Studies 6 (3) 142-151.
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol6no3.10

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Received: 06/08/2022 
Accepted: 07/26/2022 
Published: 08/24/2022
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0715-1130
http://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awejtls/vol6no3.10 

Xue Wang (MA) studies English language and literature at School of Foreign Languages, Central China Normal University as a postgraduate. Her research interests lie in British literature, American literature, modern Irish literature and modern literary theories such as new historicism and ethical literary criticism.
ORCID ID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0715-1130
E-mail: 2913367146@qq.com