Individual destinies in a turbulent world: Voice and vision in two of Lao She's novels

This dissertation will examine the narrative characteristics and thematic design of Lao She's (1899-1966) masterpiece Camel Xiangzi (Luotuo xiangzi, (1936, 1939) and Four Generations under One Roof (Sishi tongtang, (1944-46). Some basic issues regarding both novels' thematic design remain unresolved in the case of Camel Xiangzi, and unexamined, in the case of Four Generations. The present study intends to address these unresolved issues and to uncover the thematic designs of both novels. New approaches to the narrative discourse, "focalization" (vision) and personal narration (voice and vision), and "dialogism," are adopted from French narratologist Gerard Genette and Russian critic M. M. Bakhtin for the first time in Lao She studies. Such an approach will demonstrate how Lao She's narrative strategies constitute an essential part of the thematic design. The conflicting forces depicted in both novels, which can be summarized as high external pressure vs. the individual's inner strength will be revealed to be, in fact, intricately integrated, signifying a higher level of order about individuals' destinies in a turbulent world.In Camel, an extremely centralized organization serves to highlight the cruel forces that individual's face, and simultaneously to intensify a sense of the individual's responsibility. The composition of the novel reaches such an intricate tightness that almost every diegetic event acquires an irreplaceable quality, and each major character's vision and perspective becomes an essential constituent in the thematic design.In Four Generations, a decentralized and synchronic diegetic structure is contrasted to and ultimately regimented by a central meditative consciousness, that of a thematically central character, Xuan's voice. The Four Generations narrator's view of the individual's destiny differs from that of earlier novels, such as Camel. In Four Generations, an individual's power and efforts are conceived as much more confined and community oriented. The individual can only function under the community superstructure if he/she is going to remain a social being, and, the communal fate is a result of individuals' conduct and particularly individuals' consciousness.