Life Perceived In Time-A Narratological Study Of The Diaries Of Jane Somers

Doris Lessing(1919-2013)is one of the renowned post-war women writers of Britain.Her prolific output and wide-ranging topics earn her kinds of literary prizes,including Somerset Maugham Award and Nobel Prize for Literature,etc.Her works have been widely translated and internationally recognized.The Diaries of Jane Somers(hereinafter refers to as The Diaries)was published anonymously in 1984,and since it was identified as Lessing’s work,the novel has received great concern both at home and abroad.Based on the present research findings and combined with the French literary theorist Gérard Genette’s narrative theories,the thesis aims at highlighting the novel’s artistic features and thematic meaning,which is the heroine Jane’s self-development and the respect and care for life,by adopting textual analysis method,through the studies of narrative tense,narrative mood and narrative voice.The thesis consists of five chapters.The first chapter introduces Doris Lessing,the research status,research significance,theoretical frame,and organization of the thesis.Chapter two analyzes the dislocated narrative tense in the novel,mainly focusing on the linear narrative order,complex narrative duration and the relation of frequency between story and narrative in the novel,using Genette’s narrative tense theories,perfectly unfolding the process of Jane’s self-development,from indifference and ruthlessness to femininity and responsibility,thus revealing the truth that whether it is the death-facing elders,the prime of life,or the booming youth all need respect and care.Chapter three studies the diversified narrative focalization in the novel,with the support of Genette’s narrative mood theory,mainly from two perspectives,zero focalization and internal focalization,to analyze the main characters’ variation of inner mind and behaviors,thus revealing the importance of emotional interaction in life.Chapter four studies the multiple narrative narrators,with the support of narrators and narrative level theories in narrative voice;as the intra-and homodiegetic and reliable narrator,Jane presents the whole picture of plot development and uncoversthe essence of life and love.Chapter five is the conclusion.