Narrative Makes The Classic:An Interpretation Of Herzog In The Light Of Classical And Postclassical Narratology

Saul Bellow is the most famous American contemporary novelist after Hemingway and Faulkner. His works present very deep thought. He blends human understanding and subtle analysis of contemporary culture into his works. Herzog is Saul Bellow’s masterpiece, which is an important link between the preceding and the following periods during Bellow’s writing career. This novel is the reflection of American intellectuals, which truly represents the middle bourgeois intellectuals’ depression and confusion, pursuit and exploration in modern society. It is one of his novels involving many social problems, rich content, profound connotation, exquisite analysis and various techniques.Bellow’s remarkable achievement in Herzog lies in his narrative techniques. This thesis, in the light of narratological theories, analyzes the narrative strategies employed in this novel and explores the actual function of narrative techniques in Herzog as they contribute to understanding the novel’s characters and theme. This thesis is divided into five chapters, together with introduction and conclusion.The introduction contains the brief information of the novelist Saul Bellow, the summary of Herzog and the critical responses to the novel.Chapter One states the origin and development of narratology, introduces the narrative theories of Genette and Miller and explains some important terms employed in this thesis from four aspects:narrative levels, narrative time, focalization and narrative lines.Chapter Two analyzes the narrative levels in Herzog, which has three narrative levels, In the beginning of the novel, Herzog’s narration is the first narrative level. Starting from the first narrative level, Herzog recalls his experiences of the past five days and this reminiscence makes up the second narrative level. Herzog’s recollection about the past five days is full of his retrospection and introspection about his whole life, which constitutes the third narrative level of the novel. The third narrative level is far more complicated and confusing than the second narrative level. The structure of Herzog seems to be loose, even disordered just because of the unique three narrative levels, which form the trunk and frame of the whole novel.Chapter Three focuses on various narrative techniques of narrative time in Herzog. As regards time order, analepsis is the most often used in this novel. The protagonist is always in the condition of retrospection. With respect to time duration, Bellow tends to adopt summary and scene. The time duration varies greatly with the development of the novel. As for time frequency, Bellow often draws on repeating narrative.Chapter Four explores focalization in Herzog. Bellow employs more internal focalization than external focalization in the novel. The mixture of these two types of focalization offers great convenience to depict the character and reflect the character’s inner world. The shift between the first person and the third person increases the profundity of the novel and enhances the readers’appreciation and feelings.Chapter Five probes into the narrative lines in Herzog from the middle and end of the line in accordance with Miller’s narrative theories. The middle of narrative line appears as some form of visible figure in any case. In Herzog, it forms concentric circles in the middle of the line. There are two kinds in the end of narrative line:desis and lysis. And the novel Herzog belongs to the latter.The last part is the conclusion. Saul Bellow’s narrative techniques are a key to understanding why Herzog is enduring and great. Herzog is a modernist fiction. Narratological interpretation of Herzog has practical value, which contributes to thorough comprehension of its characters and theme. The study of the narrative techniques in the novel enables the readers to understand deeply the artistic effect and furthermore have a better and complete understanding of the story, and finally go beyond the superficial meaning to find the real essence of the novel. Bellow is a real master in narrative and representation.