Title: The African American Narrative and the Historical Reconstruction in John Henry Days

Abstract: The novel John Henry Days, written by the African American writer Colson Whitehead, revolves around the celebration of the stamp issuance of the legendary African American figure John Henry. Through multi-dimensional narratives spanning oral history interviews, ceremony proceedings, and railroad tunnel construction across different temporal and spatial contexts, the novel presents John Henry’s ambiguous, multifaceted, and even self-contradictory image. This legendary black figure, reduced to simplistic stereotypes and commercialized commodities within mainstream white narratives, is, in contrast, imbued with profound cultural meaning and emotional resonance in African American folk traditions, and thus becomes a symbol of African American cultural heritage and collective spirit. The contradiction between the two narratives not only reflects the confrontation between African Americans and the racism imposed by contemporary consumerism and vulgar culture, but also emphasizes the realistic importance of rewriting the legend of John Henry. Whitehead attempts to challenge and revise the white-dominated historical narratives, reshape the African American history, and express the ideal for racial justice.

Keywords: Colson Whitehead, John Henry Days, African American narrative, historical reconstruction

Author: Yudi Li, Lecturer, School of Foreign Languages, Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.

DOI: 10.19967/j.cnki.flc.2025.03.008