Changes Of Alice Munro’s Narrative Strategies And Their Artistic Effects

As the winner of the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature, Alice Munro(1931-) is currently attracting the attention from both domestic and foreign scholars. This thesis would focus on the different narrative techniques employed in Alice Munro’s two works, including her earliest published short story collection Dance of the Happy Shades and her later collection Too Much Happiness. Dance of the Happy Shades is the first published work of Munro, which represents Munro’s early writing style. Too Much happiness, which is the last but one work of Munro, is a pre-eminent example of Munro’s mature style. This thesis is about the changes of Alice Munro’s narrative strategies and their artistic effects between Dance of the Happy Shades and Too Much Happiness.This thesis is mainly divided into five parts. Introduction provides a brief introduction to the author Alice Munro, a literary review of the researches on Alice Munro, the theoretical framework of narratology, and a summary of this thesis.The first chapter is about the differences in narrative perspectives and their artistic effects between Dance of the Happy Shades and Too Much Happiness. There are two changes concerning narrative perspectives. One is the transformation from internal focalization, and the other is the increasing of alternations of focalization. The transformation from internal focalization to external focalization causes such alternations of artistic effects in which perspective varies from subjective to objective with connotation deepened. The increment of alterations of focalization brings diversification of focalization, developing structural aesthetics.The second chapter is about the differences in narrative voices and their artistic effects between Dance of the Happy Shades and Too Much Happiness. “The Office” from Dance of the Happy Shades and “Deep-Holes” from Too Much Happiness would be analyzed. There are two changes concerning narrative voices. One is the weakening of narrative voices, and the other is the concealment of author’s authority. These two changes in narrative voices bring different artistic effects separately to Dance of the Happy Shades and Too Much Happiness. The weakening of narrative voices leads to strengthening of objectivity, authenticity and creditability, while the concealment of authorial authority leads to increases of implicitness.The third chapter is about the differences in narrative time and their artistic effects between Dance of the Happy Shades and Too Much Happiness. There are two changes concerning narrative time. One is the increasing of anachronies on the level of temporal order, and the other is the advances of narrative rhythm on the level of temporal duration. The increase of anachronies on the level of temporal order gives rise to expressiveness. The advances of narrative rhythm on the level of temporal duration transform the concrete time line to the abstract time line, enhancing rhythmical beauty dramatic effects.Through the studies of the comparison concerning narratology between Dance of the Happy Shades and Too Much Happiness, this thesis not only provides a new perspective for the research on the two short story collections, but also is of great referential significance for the studies of Alice Munro’s writing transformation.