A Study Of Narrative Features In The Waves

Virginia Woolf(1882 –1941) was a great English essayist, short story writer and publisher. She is considered as one of the most important modernist literary representative figures of the 20 th century. Virginia Woolf was also a very significant novelist in English literary world. She devotes herself to changing the traditional narrative patterns to interpret the psychological world of the modern people. She established her own distinct narrative pattern that is full of special consciousness of innovation. Of all her novels, The Waves is not only regarded as the most innovative work, but also as the monumental novel in the history of world literature.Although critics have carried out different researches on The Waves from different aspects, the studies from the angle of narrative features are not thorough enough. So the thesis tries to conduct a more comprehensive analysis of the narrative structure, time and narrative focalizations of The Waves. It can be divided into three chapters. Chapter One analyzes the external structure and internal structure. In spite of being vague and fragmented, Woolf perfectly exhibits the deep theme of the novel through the organic combination of two narrative structures. Chapter two mainly refers to double narrative time frames in the novel. Woolf mainly employs the chronological time order to construct the external time frame. At the same time, she also employs her own creation “moments of being” to form a kind of inner time frame. Through the interweaving of the two time frames, Woolf breaks through the limitation of the traditional literature and offers readers more space to imagine. Chapter three mainly analyzes the narrative focalizations in the novel. Woolf deliberately applies two different focalizations in the novel including the external and internal focalizations to create a different artistic effect.Through the comprehensive study on the narrative features in the novel, the thesis draws a conclusion that different narrative skills in the novel are helpful for deepening the inner theme and expanding the scope of imagination. It is very helpful for readers to know about the modernist narrative features. Through these special narrative strategies, Woolf also exhibits her unique thoughts about life and death. By means of the special plot and excellent narrative, Woolf broadens the narrative space and the influence of modern fictions. So The Waves can be regarded as a masterpiece in British literary history.