A Narratological Study Of A Song Of Ice And Fire

A Song of Ice and Fire is a series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist, screenwriter and television producer George R. R. Martin. The series whose contents covered two continents, three main areas, nine great families, hundreds of vassals and several thousands of named characters, and a history of more than a thousand years is an epic in its narrative. The intertwining of those elements creates a cubical multi-dimensional structure with space, time, and character being the principle axis. Throughout the whole story, its different histories, faiths, traditions mixed with such exotic customs and supernatural elements as dragons, magic, witchcraft, the others(ghosts) and skinchangers make the work rich and full in content and exquisite and detailed in characterization.This thesis tries to analyze narratologically A Song of Ice and Fire, based on the story level, the discourse level and on theories of post-classical narratology. It will reveal to readers the author’s elaborate design of the fictional world, characterization, development of story, and plot setting as well as his unique employment of point of view and the function of such adoption. Moreover it will extract the faiths and guiding principles behind the acts and behaviors of major characters and analyze to what extent these value systems have influenced the destinies of such characters.This thesis is of three parts. In introduction the significance of A Song of Ice and Fire series is discussed briefly and the author’s background including his career and some important works is given. Then it elaborates on the background and main story of A Song of Ice and Fire.In Chapter One the development and basic concepts of narratology will be introduced. Story and discourse as the fundamental pair of concepts of classical narratology are discussed in detail and used as theoretic basis for the following two chapters. Other concepts and techniques derived from or based on the two concepts are also introduced in this chapter. Besides, theories of post-classical narratology which expand the domain of narratological study from textual analysis alone to taking contextual analysis into consideration and bring new blood and vitality to the development of narratology is presented.In Chapter Two the narration of the story is analyzed from the discourse level. It introduces the vision and voice of the narrator and discusses the difference in narrative effect between omniscient and limited point of view narrations. It shows readers the author’s unconventional technique of limiting the point of view and revealing the panorama of the story by frequently shifting POVs. It also exemplifies and proves that different combinations of POV storylines would achieve different narrative effects.In Chapter Three the dimensions of the fictional world is sorted out and analyzed based on the story level. Difference between story and plot is discussed and their common component “event” is extracted to analyze the unique arrangement of A Song of Ice and Fire series. The function of characters is investigated and it shows that the organic combination of the three dimensions of space plus linear time would yield a universe multi-dimensional in structure and epic in size.In Chapter Four the story is reevaluated based on theories of post-classical narratology. The behaviors of characters and value system guiding their behaviors is demonstrated and compared with contemporary collective consciousness. The comparison shows that the author has built an unconventional criterion based on a traditional feudal world. The conflicts between different value systems and the outcome they yield further show readers the essence of the fictional world.In conclusion, the thesis reveals to readers that the author in creating the series has created a cubic structured world with multiple dimensions of time and spaces. His excellent application of discourse techniques and elaborate setting of surprises and suspense which make the narration of the story effective has fascinated readers and drawn them into further reading. The unconventional criterion of judging beauty and ugliness and the conflicts between different guiding principles builds a profound foundation for the story.