A Narratological-stylistic Approach To Naipaul's A Bend In The River

Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul is considered as one of the most outstanding Englishnovelists in the20thcentury. In2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, and he isgenerally acknowledged as the Father of the Caribbean literature, and he is the typical type ofthe post-colonial writer. Due to his multi-cultural background, the works of Naipaul are filledwith contradictions, which represent his mixed feelings to post-colonial world. Therefore,most of his works reflect the social problems of colonial countries which try to beindependent or have been independent.Based on the antecedent researches as well as personal understanding and interpretation,this thesis focuses on the narration and language uses of the novel in the perspective ofNarratological-Stylistics. Through the discussion of the creative writing skills and the relatedthemes in the novel, readers can distinguish the approach of Narratological-Stylistics.Firstly, in the level of narration, the thesis mainly applies point of view, such as thefirst-person point of view and the internal third-person point of view to narrate the whole story.Naipaul mainly employs the first-person point of view to decrease the temporal and spatialdistance between readers and the narrator, which makes the whole story true to the readers'lives; besides Naipaul adopts the internal third-person point of view to describe characters inthe novel. This kind of narration can objectively describe the events or objects, which makethem much more profound and specific. On account of the two narrations, Naipaul'sstandpoints and thoughts reveal fully, which happen to be the same with the theme of thenovel.Secondly, in the level of language, this thesis employs the different modes of speechpresentation and rhetorical devices to develop the study. On the one hand, Naipaul uses freeindirect speech and free direct speech to narrate those characters' speeches and thoughts,which create an opportunity of face-to-face communication for narrators and readers, andinterests all focuses of the readers. On the other hand, Naipaul employs symbolism, irony andmetaphor to express language of the novel. It is no doubt that Naipaul is good at using theserhetorical devices, because from the title to the details of the novel, there are a lot of thesekind of rhetorical devices, which make the language of the novel filled with a kind of ironyand uncertainty, and exactly fuse the theme of the novel. This thesis holds a view that it is due to the narrative techniques and linguistic features that make a great success of the novel.In a word, this thesis is to analyze the theme of the novel from the levels ofnarratological techniques and linguistic features of narrotological-stylistics, which deepen thetheme of the novel that Naipaul depicted the black, undeveloped social conditions and therootless wandering of those people in post-colonial word. In short, by analysis the theme of ABend in the River, we can have a better understanding the creativity and genius of the mostoutstanding post-colonial writer of the20thcentury, as well as the social significance that hisnovel has reflected.