Analysis On The Narrative Techniques Of The Razor's Edge

Maugham is a well-known playwright and novelist in English history and even world literature. As standing at the intersection of the tradition and modernity, his novels show the features of both realism and modernism. The Razor's Edge was created in the modern period, which was Maugham's favorite according to his own words. Dealing with popular religious issues and one man's search for genuine existence amid conformity and commercialized values, Maugham's first novel to include American characters also shows his willingness to experiment with narrative techniques. Critics generally comment that Maugham overemphasizes on the set and entertainment effects of the story, lacking aesthetic feelings. Hence, most of the researches in and aboard concentrate on the theme and figure image of The Razor's Edge. No systematic research is given on its narrative techniques. As a matter of fact, the narrative techniques applying in this novel exactly contains both realism and modernism features. Based on concepts and definitions of Genette's Narrative Discourse, Rimmon-Kenan's Fictional Narrative, Joseph Frank's Spatial Form in Modern Literature, using the experience of narratologists at home and abroad as reference, this thesis attempts to identify and evaluate the narrative elements in this novel and to analyze the narrative techniques of The Razor's Edge , unfolded from the following chapters:The first chapter deals with the identification and the function of the narrator in the novel. It demonstrates the difference among the author"Maugham", the narrator"Maugham"and the character"Maugham". Moreover, it elaborates the multiple functions of the narrator in the novel.The second chapter is the presentation of specific focalization adopted in the novel: zero focalization, internal focalization and external focalization. The internal focalization can be divided into the narrator'and other characters'. Through the shifting of different focalizations and internal focalization of different characters, the functions and effects applying the technique of focalization are revealed.The third chapter introduces the theory of spatial form by Joseph Frank to analyze on the modernistic narrative technique of the novel, discussing on the spatialized time revealing in the story and the exertion and function of juxtaposition.