珍妮特•温特森《给樱桃以性别》中的叙事时间研究_英语论文

Study of Narrative Time in Jeanette Winterson’ s Sexing the Cherry

摘要

《给樱桃以性别》是英国当代作家珍妮特•温特森（Jeanette Winterson）创作的后现代主义小说。作品以英国的十七世纪与二十世纪两组时间背景作为线索，小说情节围绕四位主人公展开。自出版以来，该作品的叙事策略与后现代特征受到国内外研究者的广泛关注。本研究以热奈特的叙事时间理论为框架，在此视阈下研究作品中叙事时间策略对主题叙事的作用。本研究从“顺序”“时距”“频率”三个角度进行分析，首先归纳作品中不同的叙事时间现象；其次，提炼不同人物在叙述时的叙事时间特点；最后，结合身份认同与女性主义等相关理论，进一步探讨叙事时间策略对于主题叙事的作用。本研究发现，顺序的应用反映了作者的重构思想，时距体现了作品对于不同主题的反思，频率则构建了主题叙事的多重唱。

关键词  热奈特  叙事时间  给樱桃以性别  顺序  频率  时距

Abstract

As a feminist novel, Sexing the Cherry owns its narrative power embodying the challenge towards the conventional values and patriarchal society. As an indispensable narrative element, the narrative time not only guides readers to follow the time and space invented by authors, it also wields the power to challenge the conventional values by subverting the traditional narrative strategies. With the light of the theory of Gérard Genette, this study analyzes the narrative time in Sexing the Cherry, discussing the effect of the order, duration and frequency applied to the stories of four protagonists - Jordan, Dog Woman, Nicolas Jordan and the female chemist. The study finds that the order shows the idea of reconstitution, the duration leads readers to retrospect existing values and social issues, and the frequency forms a chorus of  thematic narrations from different voices of four characters. The findings of the study with structural methods might bring a new point of view to the further study of Sexing the Cherry. 

Keywords  Sexing the Cherry  narrative time  order  duration  frequency

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Jeanrtte Winterson: From a Christian child to a post modern writer 1

1.2 Sexing the Cherry: A feminest novel with post modern features 1

1.3   Literature review 2

1.4 Theoretical frame 4

1.5   Thesis structure 5

2 Order: Reconstitution to the traditional society 6

2.1   Macro-structure of the novel: Narrative devices for subversive ideas 6

2.2 Micro-structure of Dog Woman and Jordan' s narrative orders 8

2.3 Narrative orders: Reconstitute the traditional society 10

3 Duration: Retrospection towards common sense 11

3.1 The macroscopic level of narrative speed for the novel 11

3.2 Representative phenomenons of narrative movements in the novel 13

3.3   Narrative duration: Retrospection toward common sense 14

4  Frequency: Thematic chorus of different voices 16

4.1 The frequency applied in the novel 16

4.2 Frequency of the thematic narration in the novel 17

4.3 Narrative frequency: Thematic chorus of different voices 18

Conclusion 19

Acknowledgments 20

References 21