On Narrative Techniques In My Antonia

Willa Cather (1873—1947) is regarded as one of the eminent American novelists in the 20th century and is the recipient of many literary prizes and honors. Her novel My Antonia is considered the best piece of fiction ever done by a woman in America.This thesis aims to conduct a detailed analysis of narrative time, focalization and characterization in My Antonia in the light of Gerard Genette's, Slomith Rimmon-Kenan's and Shen Dan's narrative theories. Through investigating the order, duration and frequency in My Antonia, the functions of narrative time in revealing the theme in the novel can be manifested. And then through analyzing the shifting localizations employed in My Antonia, especially Jim's dual focalizations, the functions and effects resulting from shifting focalizations are demonstrated. At last the thesis analyzes Willa Cather's apt usage of direct definition and the character-indicators of indirect presentation to successfully characterize the major characters Jim, Antonia and the secondary character Mr. Shimerda.Through the detailed analysis, the thesis comes to a conclusion that My Antonia is a novel of delicate narrative techniques which help deepen the theme and create vivid characters in the novel. As a perfect unity of content and form, My Antonia is a classic in American literary works.