On Narrative Features in Hell Is the Absence of God_英语论文

摘要

特德•姜是美国当代最优秀的华裔科幻作家之一，其作品多以中短篇小说为主。《地狱是上帝不存在的地方》是特德•姜在2001年发表的中篇小说。本文选取米克•巴尔的叙事学理论为基础，对《地狱是上帝不存在的地方》的叙事状况和叙述层次进行分析，从全知叙述者、聚焦模式和单一叙述层次三个方面，探讨该作品塑造的过程。叙述者在讲述过程中从多方面进行干扰，使故事充满疏离感；聚焦的切换形成冲突，并以双重聚焦的方式影响故事的伦理取位；单一的叙述层次强化以上两点，并加强故事的思想实验色彩。对叙事特征的分析体现了特德·姜鲜明的写作风格，并对同类型科幻作品赏析有一定参考意义。

关键词：特德·姜  叙事特征  叙事状况

Abstract

Ted Chiang is one of the most outstanding Chinese-American science fiction writers in the United States, while his works are mainly short stories, novelettes, and novellas. Hell Is the Absence of God is a 2001 novelette by Ted Chiang. Based on the theories of narratology from Mieke Bal, the paper analyzes the narrative situation and narrative level of the Hell Is the Absence of God, from the three aspects—omniscient narrator, focalization mode and the only narrative level, to explore its process of shaping the work. The narrator interferes with the text in many ways, causing the effect of distance; the shifting of focalization strengthens the conflict, and the dual focalization influences the ethical position of the story; the only narrative level strengthens the above two aspects and the sense of thought experiment. The analysis of narrative features reflects Ted Chiang's unique writing style and has certain reference significance for the appreciation of the similar type of science fiction works.

Key words: Ted Chiang  narrative features  narrative situation

Contents

Chapter One  Introduction. 1

1.1 Research Background 1

1.2 Research Questions and Methods 2

1.3 Structure of the Thesis. 2

Chapter Two  Literature Review 4

2.1 Previous Studies on Hell Is the Absence of God Abroad. 4

2.2 Previous Studies on Hell Is the Absence of God at Home. 4

Chapter Three  Theoretical Framework. 6

3.1 Brief History of Narratology Theory 6

3.2 Core Concepts on Narratology 7

3.2.1 Concept of Story, Text and Fabula 8

3.2.2 Concept of Narrator 8

3.2.3 Concept of Focalization 9

3.2.4 Concept of Narrative level 10

Chapter Four Narrative Analysis of Hell Is the Absence of God. 11

4.1 Brief Introduction to Hell Is the Absence of God 11 

4.2 Narrative Analysis of Hell Is the Absence of God 12

4.2.1 Omniscient Overt Narrator 13

4.2.2 Switch of Internal Focalizor and Dual Focalization 18

4.2.3 First and Only Narrative Level 22

Chapter Five  Conclusion 24

Bibliography

Acknowledgments