1. 研究目的与意义

the united states is a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural country composed of immigrants, with racial discrimination existing for a long time. since the first african blacks were transported to the new world in 1619, they have been discriminated against and enslaved as slaves in the united states for a long time. although the 13th amendment of the federal constitution of the united states announced the abolition of slavery in 1865, slavery did not disappear in the united states.

the paper analyzes the identity of the protagonist, and then draws the conclusion that the traditional identity cognition conceals the real self within the superficial and various self to a certain extent, and the identity and cultural problems show more mixed and complex characteristics in the modern globalization.

as one of the persistent ailments of american society, racial discrimination will be a long-term test of the governing ability of american government. only by eliminating racial discrimination, improving the living environment of black and other ethnic minorities and narrowing the gap between them and white people can this thorny problem be solved.

2. 研究内容和预期目标

though the novel describes the experience of coleman, it is the reflection of the unfortunate life of black people. this paper mainly analyzes the identity crisis of coleman and other four characters to reveal the spiritual crisis of racial discrimination in the united states at that time.

the essay focuses on the racial discriminationreflected in the novel. the essay is divided into four parts. chapter one is mainly about the literature review and current studies of the human stain. chapter two and three are the major part of the essay. chapter two builds an american dream. chapter three is the major part of the essay. it analyzes the relationship between coleman and other four characters. the story is based on coleman’s depraved life. and it includes the hypocrisy of human nature under race. chapter four makes a summary of the essay and the expectation of social ecology.

3. 国内外研究现状

in recent years, great achievements have been made by scholars both at home and abroad in the studies of philip roth as well as his works.

philip roth is one of the most active and influential writers in contemporary american literature. roth’s works can be said to be a rich corpus. the narrative language in his novels is mostly standard american english. all kinds of characters in his novels use yiddish at home, while american slangs are often heard in the noisy streets of big cities, and hebrew used in jewish religious ceremonies. roth’s language is witty but not cold, sarcastic but not mean. jokes from the streets and jewish families are fully integrated into the scene and the actions of the characters. their dialogue language is short, and in line with the age and personality of the characters, forming a colorful painting of american jewish customs.

in china, many scholars also did a lot of researches on his view of racial discrimination. liu jing from harbin engineering university analyzed the racial discrimination in america. she analyzes the construction of invisible and explicit themes, and discusses the tragedy deepening of invisible themes. by analyzing the different positions of coleman, virginia and daphne reveals the influence of 'political correctness' on education and contemporary americans. at the same time, by analyzing coleman’s degenerate life, it explains the right of self creation guaranteed by the 'american dream', which makes the protagonist finally fall into the situation of being exposed and punished.

4. 计划与进度安排

outline

chapter Ⅰ. introduction

1.1literature review

5. 参考文献

ben siegel and philip roth(1976). philip roth’s the great american novel. contemporary literature,vol. 17. no. 2, pp. 171-190

derek parker royal(2006). identity, death, and narrative in philip roth’s the human stain. contemporary literature, vol. 47. no.1, pp. 114-140

jennifer glaser(2008). reading race and literary history in philip roth’s the human stain. pmla, vol. 123. no. 5. special topic:comparative racialization, pp. 1465-1478