Fourteen Myths, One Legend: A New Historicist Reading of The Myth of John Henry in Colson Whitehead’s John Henry Days
A. Brindha Sharon
Research Scholar of English (Reg. No: 2511128022005),
St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai – 627002,
Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India – 627012.
Dr. D. Jockim
Research Supervisor and Assistant Professor, Research Department of English,
St. Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Palayamkottai – 627002,
Affiliated to Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India – 627012.
Abstract
Myths and folklores are living records of tradition, culture, and beliefs transmitted from one generation to the other. The prologue in Colson Whitehead’s John Henry Days (2001) presents fourteen variations of the myth of John Henry. Whitehead in his novel, demonstrates how oral tradition transforms historical fragments into a culturally meaningful legend. Instead of John Henry as a fixed heroic figure, Whitehead foregrounds multiple voices, regional claims, racial dynamics, and industrial myth-making that contribute to the development of the narrative. These varied myths destabilise the idea of a single, recoverable historical truth. This paper tends to approach the varied myths of John Henry using the theoretical lens of Stephen Greenblatt’s New Historicism. The varied narrative construction of the myth exposes the contested and constructed discourse of history. The prologue in John Henry Days functions as a metafictional archive of cultural memory. It reveals how power, memory, and culture contribute to the production of historical meaning. Whitehead exhibits fourteen varied competing histories, through which he questions the politics of representation and the formation of identity. The author interrogates the authority of singular narratives, and he suggests that myth not only operates as a preserved fact but also an evolving site of ideological negotiation.
Keywords: Myths and Folklores, Tradition, Regional Claims, Constructed Discourse, Cultural Memory, and Ideological Negotiation.
