A Study On The House Of The Seven Gables From The Perspective Of Emma Kafalenos' Narrative Grammar Model

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the famous romanticists in the 19th century in America. Many of his works, filled with symbolism and deep psychological analysis. Hawthorne calls himself a writer of romances due to Puritanical caution and his four major romances are The Scarlet Letter (1850), The House of the Seven Gables (1851), The Blithedale Romance (1852) and The Marble Faun (1860), among which The Scarlet Letter is considered to be his magnum opus and establishes Hawthorne's fame in literature. The House of the Seven Gables which is closely related with the history of Hawthorne's family is controversial and people haven't paid enough attention to it.Classical narratology came into being owing to constructionism and Russian formalism in the 1960s. It studies the common narrative features and characteristics of individual differences in different kinds of narrative works so as to describe the control of the narrative (and the narrative process) in the system of rules associated with the narrative. From 1990s, classical narratology shifts into post-classical narratology, after which narratology is no longer a single text analysis. However, classical narratology is not out of date in terms of exploring the universality of structure.Based on classical narratology, the thesis analyzes the development of the plot and its narrative effects by means of Emma Kafalenos'"function analysis" narrative grammar model. The thesis consists of four chapters, besides introduction and conclusion. Chapter three and chapter four are the main parts of the thesis.The first chapter is literature review, looking back on the previous researches on Hawthorne and the novel both at home and abroad. So far, people still hold different opinions towards this novel. Some scholars deny the loose structure and the happy ending; others concentrate on the symbolism and moral lessons; there is still someone who interprets the novel from the point of cultural-political strategy and narrative structure (the Arabesque Structure). However, the thesis attempts to interpret the novel from the perspective of classical narratology.Chapter two is theoretical basis. It introduces the primary knowledge of classical narratology, including its theoretical sources, main theories and the sequence in narrative discourse. Then it presents Kafalenos'narrative grammar model "function analysis" detailedly.Chapter three explains the use of Kafalenos'"function analysis" narrative grammar model in detail in the novel. Centering on "the wrongdoing of one generation lives into the successive ones", the thesis analyzes the relationships among characters in the order of the ancient conflicts, the current situations of the Pyncheons and the Maules and the happy ending. It points out there is an inner narrative system, or rather, causation, which is in harmony with the development of the story behind the chaotic structure in the novel; the plot develops from an equilibrium to another equilibrium, during which there is an imbalance period; there is a core event and a core character, which make so many things in harmony; moreover, a series of missing information exists in the structure, which influences readers'understanding.Chapter four mainly analyzes the narrative effects led to by function analysis. It shows there are many similarities between Colonel Pyncheon and Judge Pyncheon, Hepzibah and Clifford as victims as well as winners of the old days while Holgrave and Phoebe are the embodiment of Adam and Eve, bringing hope to people.In conclusion, interpreting The House of the Seven Gables from the perspective of function analysis by Emma Kafalenos has theoretical meaning and academic value. There is an inner narrative system under the loose structure on the surface, which is helpful to understand this novel comprehensively and explore Hawthorne's writing essence that "urge everyone to fit into the great flowing stream of the present, which constantly becomes the past". Furthermore, it proves classical narratology is not out of date on analyzing the commonness of structure though classical narratology exists disadvantages to some extent.