A Study Of The Characters’ Exploration Of Emotional Dilemmas In Machines Like Me From The Perspective Of Affective Narratology

Ian Mc Ewan(1948-)is an enduring figure in contemporary British literature.Mc Ewan’s middle and late works are more responsive to social and historical realities,reflecting modern people’s emotional dilemmas with great narrative skills and profound ethical insights in detail and depth.Machines Like Me,Ian Mc Ewan’s latest work published in 2019,is a science fiction novel on the subject of artificial intelligence.This novel,set in 1980s’ Britain,centers on the protagonist Charlie’s pursuit of happiness with her girlfriend Miranda through the first-person narrative point of view of Charlie;but the appearance of the artificial human Adam enmeshed them in emotional dilemmas.Mc Ewan’s emphasis on narrative and emotion is in line with the trend of literary criticism under the background of “affective turn”,which focuses on the revelation of human’s complex emotional situation through literary works.Scholars at home and abroad have mainly explored the relationship between human and machine from the perspective of ethical criticism since the publication of this novel,but few have interpreted the novel in depth from the perspective of affective narratology.In terms of affective narratology,literature is the product of human emotion,and it is human’s rich emotion that creates the literary works enlightening people’s spirit.Thus,the structure of the story,the actions of the protagonist,and the trajectory of his pursuit of goals are all shaped by emotion systems.As a literary work focusing on the situation of human existence in the age of artificial intelligence,the story characteristics of Machines like Me is naturally dominated by emotion.Therefore,the characters’ different pursuit of emotional goal shaped their different destinies.With Hogan’s theory of affective narrative as a guide,the main body of this thesis isolates three affective narrative patterns and their emotional structure of fragile normalcy,precipitating event,pursuit of emotional goal and idealized normalcy in Machines Like Me to discuss the manifestations and causes of characters’ emotional dilemmas and their spiritual growth in their exploration of emotional dilemmas under the impetus of their emotional goals.Thus,it reveals Mc Ewan’s deep concern on modern people’s emotional conditions in the era of artificial intelligence and provides fresh ideas for modern people to deal with their own emotional dilemmas.This thesis is divided into three parts: introduction,main body and conclusion,with the body section consisting of three chapters.The first part is the introduction,which deals with Ian Mc Ewan’s life career and his writing experience,the abstract of Machines Like Me as well as the current situations of research on this work at home and abroad;furthermore,the study history of affective narrative and its main concepts are explained;and the innovation and research significance of this thesis are presented subsequently.The second part is the body of this thesis,comprising three chapters:The first chapter carries out a detailed analysis of the protagonist Charlie’s exploration of his emotional dilemma in romantic love.The protagonist Charlie,a technology enthusiast in the era of artificial intelligence,is trapped in the emotional dilemma of state boredom due to his quest for the novelty of the technology.And then,out of curiosity,he purchases Adam,an artificial human,with an inheritance from his mother;however,Adam claims that he has fallen in love with Charlie’s girlfriend Miranda,which evokes Charlie’s emotional goal of pursuing romantic love.In his pursuit of romantic love,Charlie gradually overcomes his state boredom with sincere and honest efforts;finally,he grows up into a person with inner peace in the restless society.The second chapter carries out a detailed analysis of the “spiritual wanderer”Gorringe’s exploration of his emotional dilemma in desire narrative.Gorringe is a“wanderer” both physically and spiritually,for his parents have gone abroad to work and he lives alone in his high school times;without the companion of his parents and friends,Gorringe gradually falls into the emotional dilemma of loneliness.And then,the appearance of Mariam,a Pakistani girl,provokes Gorringe’s desire for being recognized and accepted.However,Gorringe’s desire is distorted,and he loses and destroys himself in loneliness without the correct guidance from family and school.With the guidance of the priest,Gorringe atones for his crime and enriches his spirit in solitude;finally,he gets out of the emotional dilemma of loneliness through his connection with others and society.The third chapter carries out a detailed analysis of the heroine Miranda’s exploration of her emotional dilemma in parent-child attachment narrative.The heroine Miranda is immersed in her past family and emotional trauma and presents the symptoms of emotional isolation in her intimate relationship;gradually,she is lost in the emotional dilemma of spiritual trauma in the past.The appearance of Mark provokes Miranda’s pity for him,while the artificial man Adam’s intervention gives rise to a temporary separation of Miranda and Mark,which evokes Miranda’s emotional goal of family love.In her pursuit of family love,Miranda begins to face up to her past trauma and integrated family life through her reflection in recollection and narration.Finally,she recovers from her emotional dilemma of spiritual trauma and begins to embrace the prospect of life with love.The third part is the conclusion of this thesis.It summarizes the whole study and discusses the significance of this thesis in research and reality.This thesis approaches Machines Like Me from the perspective of affective narrative to analyze characters’ exploration of emotional dilemmas such as state boredom,loneliness and spiritual trauma,which can be regarded as an attempt to approach narrative under the background of“affective turn” and “cognitive turn”.Meanwhile,this thesis reveals human’s emotional conditions in the era of artificial intelligence and calls for modern people’s concern for emotional health,self-awareness and the significance of existence in the fast-paced modern life.