A Study Of Byron's Narrative Poems

"A Study of Byron's Narrative Poems" focuses on Byron's narrative poems, mainly his masterpieces, such as Don Juan, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and The Giaour. Byron's poetic production had gone through the turn from lyrics to narratives. The poet was abundant in narrative poems and high-skilled as well, which bear the features of the modes of narration plus discussion and scenic description plus feeling expression, of distinct satiric effects and of the creative application of flexible Italian ottava rima. All these make Byron a worthy master in western history of narrative poems, and Byron holds a peculiar place in western and even in world history of narrative poems.This dissertation consists of eight chapters. The initial chapter reviews Sino-Western studies of Byron's narrative poems, and clarifies the theoretical and practical significance of the subject. Chapter two, with Don Juan as an example, explains Byron's inheritance and innovation to western tradition of narrative poems from various angles, such as Byron's narrative turn, the shaping of the heroic image of Don Juan, and the poetic skills, narrative voices, narrative order and temporal conception in Don Juan. Chapter three, aiming to outline the evolution and changes in the terms of narrators in Byron's narrative poems, makes a comparison between the narrator in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage and those in Don Juan. Chapter four has an analysis of Byronic discourse mode of panorama, mainly focusing on the historical, literary discourses and ancient Greek and Roman mythologies. Chapter five probes into all sorts of spatial signs extensively existing in Don Juan and their functions in poetic narration. Chapter six has an analysis of Byron's improvisatorial style of writing and his excellent command of narrative rhythms. Chapter seven, with Byron's literary influences as a subject, selects for analysis Pushkin, Coetzee and Bakhtin who are profoundly influenced by Byron respectively in poetry, novels and literary theories. The last chapter reviews other work of Byron research besides those of his narrative poems, and points out vast vacancies in Byron research and narratological studies of his poems in the future.