Research On The Narrative Mode Of Native American Renaissance Fiction

Native American Renaissance fiction, referring to Native American novels published during the 1960s and 1970s, is of vital importance to the development of contemporary Native American literature. In this kind of fiction, it seems that there exists a certain narrative mode. Taking up N. Scott Momaday's House Made of Dawn, James Welch's Winter in the Blood and Leslie Marmon Silko's Ceremony as examples, this thesis attempts to explore the narrative mode of Native American Renaissance fiction with the help of Narratology and Raymond Williams'cultural theory.First, in light of the concepts of the narrative cycle and actants, this thesis investigates the similar fabulas of House Made of Dawn, Winter in the Blood and Ceremony, generalizing the basic plot in the narrative mode of Native American Renaissance fiction as follows: a young Native American, troubled by his wounds and identity crisis, experiences both amelioration and degradation and finally gains Native American identity owing to Native American rituals.Next, this thesis explores the narrative methods of Native American Renaissance fiction by comparing the narrative methods of House Made of Dawn, Winter in the Blood and Ceremony which mainly include focalization and levels of narration, summarizing the specific types of focalization, the main focalizors, shifts of focalization and different narrative levels that are employed to promote the reader's approval of Native American culture.Finally, this thesis probes into the cultural implications of the narrative methods of Native American Renaissance fiction in succession to the summarization of the narrative mode, by investigating the three authors'cultural standpoint and their demand for Native American cultural status, holding that Native American writers endow the narrative mode with the cultural implications that include insistence on the tribal stand, publicity for Native American culture and resistance against the hegemonic white culture.To sum up, the narrative mode of Native American Renaissance fiction is as follows: with a focalizor in favor of Native American culture, this type of fiction narrates a story in which a young Native American, troubled by his wounds and identity crisis, experiences alternate phases of amelioration and degradation and finally gains Native American identity by joining Native American rituals. Consisting of a number of narrative levels, the narration of the story helps to promote the reader's approval of Native American culture. This narrative mode is bound with cultural implications—persisting in tribal standpoint, advocating Native American culture and resisting the dominant white culture.