A Study Of Narrative Discourse In England,England

Julian Barnes is one of the most famous novelists and literary critics in Britain.His works won many awards since they were published.England,England is one of his famous novels,published and shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 1998.Famous for its extinct narrative features,it shows the idea of reconstructing a theme park based on the original England background on the Isle of Wight.The novel mainly depicts Martha’s childhood memory,the establishment of the theme park and Martha’s idyllic life in Anglia.England,England has attracted more and more attentions from researchers at home and abroad,while many researchers mainly focus on the national identity construction,spatial theory,psychological analysis,the deconstruction and reconstruction of this novel,the gender study of this novel,etc.Until the last year,there is only one journal related to narratological theory at home,that is,"An Interpretation of Allegorical Narrative in England,England and Illusory Englishness".The writer Zhao Shengjie employs the allegorical narrative theory to interpret the illusion of Englishness in England,England.To enrich the study of England,England from the perspective of narratology,this thesis intends to analyze this novel from three aspects,respectively narrative mood,narrative voice and narrative time.This thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter one gives a brief introduction of Julian Barnes and England,England,presents the current researches on England,England at home and abroad,and most importantly,points out the insufficiency of existing research,and indicates the significance and layout of the thesis.Besides,this chapter primarily examines the narratological theory and enumerates main narrative discourse concepts employed in the novel,such as focalization,narrative distance,narrative of words,unreliable narrator,implied author,narrative order,duration,frequency and so on,providing the theoretical basis for the following close reading analysis.Chapter two is concerned with the analysis of narrative mood in England,England.It depicts the features of narrative mood in England,England through the following analysis:continual shift of focalization,narrative distance,and different modes of speech representation.Chapter three analyzes the narrative voice of England,England mainly from exploring different narrators and their functions,analyzing the unreliable narrator Sir Jack by employing the theory of Wayne Booth,pointing out the implied author to deepen the theme that the significance of respecting the truth.Chapter four explores the narrative time of England,England.Through the application of anachrony,Barnes depicts the complicated plot and arouse some suspense to readers.What’s more,the frequency of the scene in the novel also represents Barnes’s emphasis.Besides,the duration is frequently changing in England,England.Chapter five concludes with the summary of the narrative characteristics of England,England.It is of importance that studying England,England from the perspective of narrative discourse.The study of narrative art helps the readers to understand Barnes’s concern for love,life,power,construct their self-identity and understand the significance of the truth.In a word,the ever-changing narrative techniques of this novel is benefit to reveal diverse characters and highlight the theme.