Character And Narrative

Character study has existed for a long time, while traditional character theory pays close attention to character's manifestation on image creation and ideological connotation, and to his social type, ethical value and social significance,only regards character as the product of narration , gives priority to character's mental characteristics on the level of Story and emphasizes the idea of narration serving character. Cluing in Function, this dissertation gives an overview of western character theory and its historical development, and based on the Character Theory of Classical Narratology, makes systematic research on Functional Character in depth. It lays emphasis on character's various functions on the level of Narrative as well as character serving narration, classifies various kinds of characters from the perspective of function and constructs a new Character Theory. Meanwhile, it emphasizes the narrative essence of character, and focuses on the relationship between character and narration from two aspects which are the generation of character in narration and the reaction on narration of character as participant.This dissertation is divided into two parts. There are six sections(from 1 to 6) in the first part while there are also six sections(from 7 to 12) in the second part. The introduction mainly introduces the background and current situation of character study, its enlightenment as well as this dissertation's main ideas and significance. The first part mainly expatiates on representative theories of character study from the period of Classical Narratology to that of Post-classical Narratology, and concentrates on the inherence relations of those theories and their influence and enlightenment on this dissertation. Based on the researches of predecessors, the second part constructs a new Character Theory, and mainly illustrates the concept of character in narratology, the way how character is formed in narration, the reaction of character on narration, and the classification of character from the perspective of function. The details go as follows: The first section dates the research of character function back to Aristotle's research. Because of his emphasis on personal action in Poetics, Aristotle is regarded as the originator of Functional Character Theory. He emphasizes the integrity of personal action, and the influence of his theory on character study goes as follows: first, character is subject to action and is the product of plot; second, character is functional and is the participant of narration; third, character is not real. The second section mainly expatiates on Propp's theory on character function, and illustrates its enlightenment on the dissertation. Propp, a theorist who first studies the function of character directly, defines and explains the word"Function"in his Morphology of the Folktale, and meanwhile he explores the narrative structure of the folktale from the perspective of character function. The enlightenment of Propp's research on the construction of this dissertation's theory runs as follows: first, the research on character and action; second, the research on character and structure; third, the research on character and identity.The third section mainly expatiates on Russian formalistic character theory and its enlightenment on this dissertation. The research of novel theory, represented by Thomas krzyzewski and Shklovsky, embodies the characteristics of Narratology in many aspects. It doesn't take character as its research object, but it shows in all respects that in narration each character has its own function, and it holds an inaugural significance in character study, which is reflected in the following three aspects: first, the connective role character plays in structure; second, the teller's function as a narrator; third, the use of character in an unusual manner.The fourth section mainly expatiates on Structuralist character theory and its enlightenment on this dissertation. Classical narratologists, represented by Glaymas, Todorov, Bremond, Roland Barthes and Philippe Amon, inherit Propp's research on character function and pay close attention to the research on the pattern of taking character as the actor. Those researches don't really concentrate on character, but they open up a new aspect of character study, which means to start from the research on function, and to analyze various functions and manifestations of character in details. Among those researches, Bremond's idea of"every character is the hero of his own sequence"and Glaymas'idea of"…not rely on what character is, but on what the character does"are the starting points of the construction of character theory in this dissertation.The fifth section focuses on the evolution process of the idea of"character acting as a narrator"(especially dramatic narrator) in British and American narrative theories from the aspect of the relationship between character and perspective. The first segment introduces Henry James'theory and practice on"visual person", and emphasizes on"Lamps","Ficelle","Medium"and their manifestations and functions in narration. The second segment presents Percy Lubbock's character theory in The Craft of Fiction. Lubbock develops James'theory and assumes that dramatic narration is the best narrative technique. The central intelligence characters in Henry James'novels play an important role in how to achieve the goal of dramatization. The third segment introduces Wayne Clayson Booth's character theory and its inspiration on this dissertation. In his The Rhetoric of Fiction, Wayne Clayson Booth puts forward the concepts of implied author, distance control, unreliable narrator and dramatic narrator, which is of importance to character study.The sixth section mainly analyses the Character Theory of Post-classical Narratology and its inspiration on this dissertation. Post-classical Narratology is trans-disciplinary, and in discourse analysis it pays attention to the functions of readers and socio-historical context. And its enlightenment on character study is reflected in two aspects which are the extended discussion over unreliable narrator and the research on character and identity that is represented by Feminist Narratology.The seventh section mainly defines and introduces the concept of character in Narratology. It assumes that as an unreal image character is one of the essentials in narration, and it has two essential features, that is, character is virtual and has the nature of act, which differ itself from traditional character study that regards character as a real person in real life.The eighth section explores the generation of character in narration from the perspective of Narratology. The first segment emphasizes that action plays a decisive role in the generation of a character, which is reflected in the following two aspects: the generation of a character who is marked by personality characteristics and that who is marked by non-personality characteristics. The second segment concentrates on the accessory role time and space play in the generation of character. The third segment specializes in the important effect of unreliable narration on the generation of character, which shows that the theory of Function Diversity (功能多价理论) is closely related to the generation of character.The ninth section mainly explores the classification of character from the perspective of function. The first segment combs and illustrates traditional classification of character, and meanwhile points out its limitations and defects while compared with narrative character study. The second segment which is the main part analyzes the functions of character in narration from three perspectives which are character and structure, character and dynamic, and character and narrative process. In addition, it pays attention to the diversity of character through characters'various manifestations in narration. The third segment discusses the classification of character under and out of the perspective of function, and points out the variety of character classification, which reveals a host of possibilities of character in narration.The tenth section mainly studies functional characters from the perspective of"character and structure". These functional characters include"Frame Characters","Travel Characters","Link Characters","Lead Characters","Help Characters", and"Predictive Characters".The eleventh section mainly studies functional characters from the perspective of"character and dynamic". These functional characters include"Fuse Characters","Drive Characters"and"Brake Characters".The twelfth section mainly studies functional characters from the perspective of"character and narrative process". These functional characters include"Characters as implied author","Characters as guide"and"Characters as narrator"and"Characters as narratee".