A Study On The Narrative Strategy Of "The Light Of My Father's Smile

Alice Walker is a famous African American woman writer in contemporary American literature.By the Light of My Father’s Smile is her sixth novel,which is famous for its rich themes and unique narrative techniques.This research will combine Genette’s narratology theory to analyze the narrative strategy and narrative effect of By the Light of My Father’s Smile from three perspective: narrative time,narrative focalization and narrative levels.The narrative strategies adopted in this novel include fragmented narrative time,diversified narrative focalization and multi-layer narrative structure.The narrative effects of these strategies are mainly reflected in the following aspects: the fragmented narrative time builds the suspense effect,which stimulates the readers’ interest.The diversified narrative focalization creates the real character image,reproduces the real appearance of society,and brings the real beauty to the novel.The multi-layer narrative structure shows the process of the relationship between races and people from conflict to harmony,deepening the theme of harmony.The research of narrative strategy not only enriches the research angle of this novel,but also draws more people’s attention to the importance of narrative strategy in literary works.