Point Of View And Ideology

Point of view is one important strategy in narrative discourse, and the powerfultool that connects technology and ideology, fiction form and social reality. Throughstudying plenty of Singer’s short stories, we find that there also exists the recurrenceof points of view apart from their repetitious themes: there are plenty use of overt oldwoman point of view, demon point of view, a large number of author-like first-personpoints of view, and many (limited) omniscient points of view. With the recurrence ofpoints of view, the corresponding narrative mode and implied author also becomeclear. Yet there are a few studies on points of view appearing in Singer’s short storiesboth in China and abroad.The concept of point of view contains the angle from which things are narratedand one’s manner or attitude of viewing things. The analysis of point of view could beimpossible without the combination of voice (or narration). With voice, the reader candecide the location of point of view; with point of view, voice is given its attribute—viewpoint and attitude. Therefore, the two are mutually dependent on each other. Thelocation of point of view determines the amount of the information that narratorreleases; the amount of the information about characters determines the distant orintimate relation between the narrator and characters, the reader and characters, or thereader and the narrator. Furthermore, this distant or intimate relation whether in visualor psychological respect counts much in constructing the implied author of thenarrative, thus, the discussion on point of view develops into the discussion of therhetorical function of point of view in controlling the reader to construct the image ofimplied author as expected by the real author.The dissertation is devoted to the study of points of view appearing in Singer’sshort stories, and intends to reveal how Singer tries to control his readers throughapplying different points of view to reach his communicative purpose—to constructthe implied author as expected by him and what kinds of ideologies the points of viewreflect in both respects of the narrative and the author. To Singer, the adoption ofpoints of view is to serve the narrative communication between the author and the reader. The distinctive feature of “telling” instead of “showing” in Singer’s shortstories proves that narrative communication between the author and the reader is theessence of his works.Based on the theories of structuralist narratology, rhetorical narratology andmainly on the book of The Collected Stories of Isaac Bashevis Singer, the dissertationfirst categorizes points of view mainly appearing in Singer’s short stories into threechapters: Chapter One, heterodiegetic point of view in Singer’s short stories withovert narrator; Chapter Two, first-person homodiegetic point of view in Singer’s(semi)-autodiegetic stories; Chapter Three,(limited) omniscient point of view andcharacter homodiegetic point of view. Within each type, I first point out the exactposition of the point of view and its characteristics according to Genette’s accuratecategorization on focalization, analyze how the author, through the “selection”,“alteration”,“intervention”,“restriction”, and “infringement” of point of view,controls the readers to construct the expected implied author. Then, at the end of eachchapter, I summarize the function and significance of this particular point of view inexpressing the implied author in its corresponding stories. Chapter Four summarizesthe basic characteristics of points of view in Singer’s short stories, further points outSinger’s ideologies—monistic cosmic point of view and liberal humanism arereflected by his adoption of traditional and distant point of view, finally, brieflyanalyzes the social and family sources that form his ideology.By using point of view as entry point, the dissertation organically combines theaesthetic form in Singer’s short stories with textual and authorial ideology together,thus avoiding the narrow technicism of structuralism and subjective comments onideology. In fact, this method of study is a combination between empirical researchbased on the text and the research based on social and cultural background, withempirical research—the study of point of view as the focus. This method can helpanalyze Singer’s works more scientifically and rationally, and understand his shortstories more comprehensively and deeply. Simultaneously, it can help fill in the gap inthe narratological study of Singer’s works.