An Analysis Of George Saunders’ Lincoln In The Bardo From The Perspective Of Unnatural Narratology

Lincoln in the Bardo,American writer George Saunders’ first novel,won the Man Booker Prize in 2017.It has gained widespread attention after its publication and hit bestseller lists in New York Times and USA Today,where it has been hailed as a luminous feat of generosity and humanism.Domestic and foreign researches on this novel mainly focus on its narrative techniques.Although some scholars have noticed the unnatural elements in the novel,there is still no thorough analysis on it.Based on Jan Alber and Brian Richardson’s unnatural narrative theory in post-classical narratology,the thesis tries to explore unnatural elements and defamiliarization effects of the novel so as to explore Saunders’ creativity in writing and profound ethical implications.The thesis argues that unnatural narrators,multiple narration,unnatural scenarios,space and unconventional temporal orders are main unnatural narrative techniques in Lincoln in the Bardo.These unnatural elements not only give readers new reading experiences but also reveal Saunders’ excellent writing skills and profound thoughts.By depicting sufferings of an imaginary marginalized group,Saunders reveals the characters’ psychological development and changing process of President Lincoln’s attitude towards liberating black slaves,which not only deconstruct the traditional and grand historical narrative but also unveil Saunders’ ethical concern about marginalized groups and his call for tolerance and empathy in society.What’s more,the employing of unconventional temporal orders breaks the traditional reading anticipation and blurs the boundary of the novel,which show Saunders’ skillful writing techniques.At last,Saunders reminds readers through the novel that tolerance and sympathy among people give us the courage to deal with loss in life.Exploring unnatural elements in the novel and Saunders’ ethical implications help us to analyze the text from a new perspective,so as to promote the domestic research on Saunders and his novel.In the meantime,the thesis also hopes to provide some food for thought for the development of contemporary Chinese literature.