A Study Of Broke Heart Blues By Oates From The Perspective Of Phelan’s Rhetorical Narrative Theory

As a National Book Award winner,Joyce Carol Oates provides a panorama of modern American society through writing.From the 1960 s,she has been yielding stylistic short stories and novels including A Garden of Earthly Delights,Them,and Black Water.In Broke Heart Blues,a novel published in 1999,Oates conveyed a message: what really matters is not the truth,but the ways narrators tell the “truth”.Her skillful multi-perspective narrative and ubiquitous unreliable narration play important roles in the presentation of the themes,which can be appreciated from the perspective of James Phelan’s rhetorical narrative theory.The narrative progression,unreliable narration and narrative judgements in the work are the focuses of the study.Firstly,the readerly and textual dynamics of narrative progression are manifested by the instabilities and tensions in the novel.Secondly,the unreliable narration in Broke Heart Blues reflects the complexity of human psychology and Oates’ unique writing style.Thirdly,in terms of narrative judgements,the multiple reactions in narrative refer to the interpretive,ethical and aesthetic judgements.Studying Broke Heart Blues from the perspective of Phelan’s rhetorical narrative theory and presenting the multi-layer communication among the author,the text and the reader probe into the way narrative functions as a rhetorical method.The analysis helps to further explore the charm of Oates’ writing,to illustrate the predicament and spiritual salvation of the middle class,and to excavate Oates’ deep reflection on modern American society.