The Construction Of Female Narrative Authority

Susan Sontag (1933-2004) is an influential writer and critic in contemporary America and is considered as one of the most important female intellectuals in western world. In America (1999) is the last published novel during Sontag’s lifetime and wins her the 2000 American National Book Award.The main female character in In America is modeled on the real story of the great polish actress Helena Modrzejewska. It tells how Marina chooses to retire at the peak of her career and resolutely moves to America with a group of followers. In America, Marina experiences a lot, such as building a Utopian community in a remote American village and finally returning to American stage to restart her career. As the heroine of the novel, Marina shows her difference from traditional women throughout the whole story. Instead of being a traditional woman who is always voiceless, Marina tries her best to makes her voice heard, from which her self-consciousness as a female is well demonstrated. Meanwhile, in virtue of a series of narrative methods and skills in In America, her female consciousness is manifested profoundly. Based on previous researches and with the help of Lanser’s feminist narrative theory, this thesis aims at deepening the understanding of the narrative art in In America, analyzing the construction of female narrative authority and exploring Sontag’s efforts in deconstructing male narrative authority.In addition to Introduction and Conclusion, this thesis includes five chapters.Introduction gives an outline of Susan Sontag and In America as well as the literature review.Chapter One is a general introduction to the theoretical framework applied in this thesis, which is Genette and Lanser’s narrative theory. It mainly consists of the related exposition of narrative focalization and narrative time in Genette’s Narrative Discourse as well as narrative voice in Lanser’s Fictions of Authority:Women Writers and Narrative Voice.Chapter Two analyzes narrative focalization in this novel. It discusses Sontag’s efforts in constructing female narrative authority mainly from the perspective of nonfocalized narrative and internal focalization.Chapter Three makes an analysis of narrative time in In America. It emphasizes the effect of order, frequency and duration in changing narrative tempo. The progressive development of the construction of female narrative authority is revealed.Chapter Four focuses on narrative voice, exploring how Sontag makes changes and adjustments of narrative voice to subvert the authority of male discourse and highlighting female voice as well.Chapter Five elaborates on Sontag’s viewpoint of feminism and explores the significance of the construction of female narrative authority.Based on the above analysis, the author of this thesis draws a conclusion:in the novel In America, by the application of a series of narrative means, Sontag succeeds in strengthening female discourse, constructing female narrative authority and creating a new female image. The characterization of the new image obtains important practical meanings:it not only shows Sontag’s view of feminism and her pursuit of the universal value of gender equality, but also reflects female writers’urgent call for the equal right of discourse during the thorough development of feminist movement in the latter half of the 20th century.