《麥田里的守望者》的敘事風(fēng)格

1、1. Introduction1.1 Life and literature career of J.D. SalingerJerome David Salinger (January 1st, 1919January 27th, 2010) was a famous American author, who was best known for his novel The Catcher in the Rye written in 1951. His last original published work was in 1965. Brought up in Manhattan, Sali

2、nger began writing short stories while in secondary school, and published several stories in the early 1940s before serving in World War II. Salinger published his first stories in Story magazine which was started by Whit Burnett. In 1948, he published the story A Perfect Day for Bananafish in The N

3、ew Yorker magazine, which became home to many of his subsequent works. In 1951 Salinger released his novel The Catcher in the Rye which got an overnight success. J.D. Salinger is not a prolific writer. Apart from several short stories, The Catcher in the Rye is his only full-length novel that has be

4、en published. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield is influential, especially among adolescent readers. The success of The Catcher in the Rye led to public attention and scrutiny at that time. Then Salinger bacame reclusive, publishing new

5、works less frequently. J.D. Salinger is a representative of the Lost Generation. The Lost Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers who were rebelling what America had become by the 1900s. However, the Lost Generation writers felt that America was not a successful nation beca

6、use the country was devoid of a cosmopolitan culture. Their solution to this issue was to pack up their bags and travel to European cosmopolitan cultural centers, such as Paris and London. They expected to find literary freedom and a cosmopolitan way of life there. The lost generation writers were a

7、bove, or apart from American society, not only in geographic terms, but also in their style of writing and subjects that they chose to write about.1.2 Brief introduction of The Catcher in the RyeThe Catcher in the Rye is originally published for adults. It has become popular with adolescent readers

8、since then for its themes of teenage confusion, anxiety, alienation, language, and rebellion. The Catcher in the Rye tells the story of a sixteen-year-old high school boy who is brought up in decadent New York. The boy called Holden Caulfield is expelled from school because of his poor study. He is

9、reluctant to go back home for the fear that his parents will know his exclusion from school. So he decides to stay in a hotel of New York where he meets different kinds of people, including pimps, prostitutes and queers. Gradually he finds that actually the world is a phony one. He creeps up on seei

10、ng his lovely little sister Phoebe, but he is sickened by her talking about their father killing him and sneaks away from home. Then he goes to see his teacher, Mr. Antolini, only to find that his ever respectable teacher is a homosexual. He makes up his mind to go west and spends the rest of his li

11、fe there. When he goes to say goodbye to Phoebe, unexpectedly, she wants to leave together with him. Out of his love for her, he gives up his dream, puts an end to his three-day adventure in New York and finally goes home. Soon he feels ill and goes to live in a psychiatric ward in California, where

12、 he recounts his painful memory. This novel has been translated into almost all of the worlds major languages. His depiction of adolescent alienation and loss of innocence in the protagonist Holden Caulfield is influential, especially among adolescent readers. The novels protagonist and antihero, Ho

13、lden Caulfield, has become an icon for teenage rebellion. The novel is included on Times 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923, and it is named by Modern Library. It has been frequently challenged in the United States and other countries for its liberal use of profanit

14、y and portrayal of sexuality and teenage anxiety. It also deals with complex issues of identity, belonging, connection, and alienation. The novel remains widely read and controversial, selling around 250,000 copies a year with total number of more than 65 million.1.3 Research purposesThe Catcher in

15、the Rye is the first and the only novel produced by J.D. Salinger. Since its publication, the critics have mixed feelings on this novel. The novel was included on Times 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It proves to be one of the most popular novels in the past ha

16、lf century. In my opinion, it is Salingers outstanding writing techniques that make this novel forever famous. This paper is supposed to analyse the skillful use of narrative styles in The Catcher in the Rye. To be more specific, it is expected to employ some narrative theories to analyse the narrat

17、ive styles. I will focus my attention on two aspects, that is, the first point of view narration and narrative tenses. As for the first point of view narration, Id like to study from two different perspectives. Apart from the conventional function such as arousing the readers resonance, I am also in

18、terested in the unreliable narration of the first point of view. Another distinguishing feature in The Catcher in the Rye is its skillful use of narrative tenses. Salinger employs combination of flashback and sequential narration and the relative stillness of narration. Through analysis with the hel

19、p of several examples from the novel, Id like to find out the effects that the two narrative styles have on the structure and the content of the novel and the influence they have on the readers.2. Theoretical Background2.1 Gerard Genettes narrative theories Gerard Genette is a French literary theori

20、st. He is well-known for his book Narrative Discourse: An Essay in Method. There are three main kinds of narrative issues used by Genette in his book Narrative Discourse, including tense, voice and mood. Tense mainly refers to the relation between narrative time and discourse time. In teems of tense

21、, Genette further classifies three kinds of narrative issues: order, duration and frequency.To be more specific, order, which deals with the structure of narratives, refers to the inconsistency of the order that the events happen and the order that the events are narrated. In other words, such occas

22、ions as flashback and flashforward may occur. For example, a story is narrated as follows: The clues of a murder are discovered by a detective; The circumstances of the murder are finally revealed; Lastly the murderer is caught. We set the three sentences as Event A, Event B and Event C. Add corresp

23、onding numbers 1, 2, 3 to the lettered events that chronically represent their order. If these events were described chronologically, they would run B1, A2, C3. Arranged in the text, however, they run A2, B1 and C3, which accounts for the obvious effects the reader will recognize, such as flashback.

24、 Frequency is defined as the relation between how many times the event happens and how many times it is narrated. Frequency can be elaborated as follows: The relation between an event and its narration allows several possibilities. An event can occur once and be narrated once. An event can occur man

25、y times and be narrated once only. An event can occur once and be narrated many times. An event can occur many times and be narrated many times. The second situation is also known as iterative narrative, which often appears in novels. The separation between an event and its narration means that ther

26、e is discourse time and narrative time, which are the two main elements of duration. Narrative time may be less than, more than or equivalent to discourse time. My youth has flowed away. has a lengthy narrative time-the whole period of my youth, but a short discourse time for it only took about seco

27、nd seconds to read. Voice is concerned with who narrates and from where. This can be divided into two kinds according to the narrator: hetero-diegetic and homo-diegetic, which means the narrator is not a character in the story and the narrator is a character in the story respectively. This can be sp

28、lit two kinds according to where the narration is from: intra-diegetic and extra-diegetic, meaning the narration is inside the text and outside the text respectively. Genette says narrative mood is dependent on the distanceand perspective of the narrator, and narrative mood has predominant patterns

29、as music. It is related to voice. The distance between the narrator and the readers changes with narrated speech, transposed speech and reported speech. Perspective of the narrator is called focalization. Narratives can be non-focalized, internally focalized or externally focalized. Let me explain i

30、n more detail. Non-focalized means that the narrator knows more than anyone else; Internally focalized indicates that the narrator knows as much as someone; Externally focalized shows that the narrator knows no more than anyone else. 2.2 Other narrative theoriesThere are also some other types of str

31、ucturalism produced by such famous people as Roland Balthes and Tzvetan Todorov, who are different from Gerard Genette. Balthes and Todorov lay particular emphasis on structural analysis of narrative and grammatical analysis of narrative.Roland Balthes is a French literary theorist, philosopher and

32、critic. He puts forward five literary codes in fiction, which are as follows:The code of Puzzles raises the questions to be answered. The code of Actions asks the readers to find meaning in the sequence of events. They both can regulate the sequence of events of a story. The Cultural code refers to

33、all the systems of knowledge and values invoked by a text. The Connotative code expresses themes developed around the characters. The Symbolic code refers to the theme as we have generally considered it, that is, the meaning of the work. The readers of a work need not use all the codes at once and i

34、n practice may blend these codes.Tzvetan Todorov was once a student of Balthess. He points out that narrative works can be studied from these perspectives: semantics, syntax and rhetoric. He dissects a narrative work into the following structural parts: stories, sequences, propositions and parts of

35、speech. A sequence is a complete system of several propositions. The sequence itself is a short story. A story is supposed to contain at least one sequence. A character and an action or a character and a property make up a proposition; Several propositions make up a sequence; Then two or more sequen

36、ces finally make up a complete story. In his other works, he also studies morphological issues of narrative discourse such as mood and voice. 3. Narrative Styles in The Catcher in the RyeMany people have studies the narrative skills in The Catcher in the Rye such as the use of the first point of vie

37、w, flashback and slang. However, few people have studied from the perspective of Gerard Genettes narrative theories. In this paper, I will analyse the narrative styles on the basis of Genettes narrative theories. With the help of the theories, we may be able to study the artistic effect in a more pr

38、ofound and professional way. 3.1 The analysis of the first point of viewAccordion to Ji Shouxi and Yin Lis (2007) Results from the Narrative Theory: A Brief Analysis of Narrative Inquisition, narrative, also called depiction, is originally a literary term. It is generally defined as the conveyance o

39、f nature and meaning of the authors life experience to others by telling stories. The Catcher in the Rye uses the first person in narration from beginning to end. According to Wikipedia, first person narrative refers to a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking

40、for and about themselves. First person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive voice and represents point of view in the writing. This novel is the account in Holdens own words to his doctor when he is in the mental hospital, telling abo

41、ut his ludicrous experience before Christmas Day. Holden is not only the protagonist, but also the story-teller and spokesman of this novel.3.1.1 The conventional function of the first point of viewMany scholars study the skill of first person narrative. For instance, Chen Huijuan (2008) concentrate

42、s on the distinctive quality of the narrative perspective of the first person. In her opinion, the identity of the narrator and the character colors this work with strong reminiscence. Cao Yan (2004) deals with the difference of the narrative perspective of the first person and the third person. He

43、thinks that the first person perspective directly leads readers to the inside world of the protagonist and calls resonance easily. There appears a tendency of teenager writing in contemporary Chinese literature, and some Post-1980s writers spontaneously initiated a kind of teenager narrative in whic

44、h the writer without and the narrator within the text overlap in the first-person narrator. However, the lack of historical consciousness betrays the emptiness of their life experience. There exists another kind of teenager narrative, i.e. adult writers intentionally adopt the teenager perspective,

45、creating an overlap of multiple levels of narrative time, and thus providing the readers with a special perspective to penetrate history, to enrich and develop the forms of contemporary writing both in language and in structure. (Yang Junlei, 2006 pp.19-25) Holden is the protagonist, who is a middle

46、 school student. The teenager perspective makes it reasonable to use a large number of slangs and four-letter words. For example, such words as crap, bastard and damn frequently appear in this novel. Suppose this work is written in the third person perspective, then a strong objection may come forth

47、 and it will be harder to find an echo in the readers. In The Catcher in the Rye, the first person narrative is adopted throughout the whole passage. For instance, in Chapter One, I forgot to tell you about that. They kicked me out. I have no wind, if you want to know the truth. Salinger enables the

48、 readers to feel as if they are communicating with Holden face to face. In that case, the readers have the illusion that they are in front of the narrator. First person narrative brings the distance between the protagonist and the readers closer together. The use of first person narrative helps expr

49、ess Holdens thoughts and feelings in his deep heart. Therefore, the communication between the narrator and readers becomes more natural and more sincere. During the process of narrating, the narrator I consciously make comments and summarization on the characters, which provide a relatively objectiv

50、e perspective in order to help the readers know a lot details about the characters. In Chapter 15 two nuns are mentioned. The one right next to me had one of those straw baskets that you see nuns and Salvation Army babes collecting dough with around Christmas time. She had a pretty nice smile when s

51、he looked at you. She had a big nose, and she had on those glasses with sort of iron rims that arent too attractive, but she had a helluva kind face. Salinger just describes the two nuns objectively instead of telling the readers Holdens feelings about them. The limited narration allows the readers

52、to make their own judges and gives the readers more room for thinking. 3.1.2 The first point of view studied from another perspectiveUnder the influence of thinking set, which is a complex psychological phenomenon, we are bound by the existing knowledge, experience and habits and are accustomed to t

53、hinking in the usual way. Sometimes, if we break away from our habitual thought and look at this matter differently, we may find another new world. First person narrative has its realness and untrustiness. Firstly, Holdens experience is told by himself when he is in hospital. We can deduce that at t

54、hat time Holden may be under great mental pressure and tortured by pain, lack of rationality and objectivity, and thus becoming presumptuous. Holden is for sure a young man who detests the world and its ways. His interpretation of the world is not mature enough for him to penetrate into the world an

55、d find out the nature of the events. Secondly, the narrator usually shows unconsciously a discourse trend towards the characters and events in the story. The readers sometimes can perceive the attitudes that the protagonist holds towards the characters, the events and the situations. Lets take Ackle

56、y for example. Holden describes him as follows: He was a very peculiar guy. .He was one of these very, very tall, round-shouldered guys-he was about six four-with lousy teeth. The whole time he roomed next to me, I never even once saw him brush his teeth. They always looked mossy and awful, and he d

57、amn near made you sick if you saw him in the dining room with his mouth full of mashed potatoes and peas or something. Besides that, he had a lot of pimples. Not just on his forehead or his chin,.I wasnt too crazy about him, to tell you the truth. We as readers may be influenced by the impression th

58、at Ackley makes on Holden. We may be disgusted with Ackley and feel sympathy for Holden, which makes preparations for disclosing the theme. Chen Lingdi (2009) mainly analyses the adolescent problems Holden Caulfield confronts on the journey from childhood to adulthood. These problems include Holdens

59、 protection of innocence, his disgust for the phoniness of the adult world and his alienation from society, which produce great impact on Holden. Wang Cui and Zhang Xiaofeng (2010) study The Catcher in the Rye in a new perspective called eco-criticism. They quote Cheryll Glotfeltys definition of eco-criticism-the study of the relationship between literature and the physical e