The Stream Of Consciousness As A Means Of Narratation

The stream of consciousness as a means of novel narration always keeps being used, although it died as one sect of modern novels in the 20th century. From 20th century to now, many of great writers have been using this kind of special means, part or all, in their narrations, and showing a richer and more incisive world. In today when the writers have much more freedom in writing, it is practicable for literary and artistic creation to discuss the stream of consciousness as a means of novel narration.There are five parts in this thesis. In the first part, two penmanship of the stream of consciousness are introduced. It is the first time that William James called this term. He said that consciousness in brains was a kind of current, which was flowing continually. Then Bergson's philosophical thinking on living and Freud's psychoanalysis will be told. Bergson said that self-consciousness was a process of changing. Freud said the libido in the subconscious is really a driving force to artistic creation. It is the development of human civilization that made the psychologists and writers try to trace people' thoughts in the same time. Now, we can make such a conclusion on those facts that the stream ofconsciousness was a result of collective historical powers.Part two asked if all of the consciousness in writing shows subconscious in this kind of novels. After analyzing some typical novels of consciousness stream, the author said it is not enough that we only pay attention to the superficial statements. The novels of consciousness stream described the subconscious, but the writers were clear-headed and controlled by the conscious. It seemed as if the stream of consciousness in the novels had been confusions. In fact, the author's idea was hidden between the chaos superficial statements.Part three said that flowing is the form of the expression in the novels of consciousness stream. After analyzing the typical novels and some related theory, the author demonstrates that the flowing of people' emotions and thoughts are dominant in this kind of novels. The typical character and the fascinating story which were emphasized in traditional novels only showed a false world, on the contrary.The forth part reviewed the development of "stream of consciousness" and gave two shortcomings of it. One is un-rationalism is emphasized too much, the other is this expression is too hard to understand. The practice and theory about stream of consciousnessinfluenced Chinese modern and contemporary literature. We use this means of narration because we have the tradition to discover human's thoughts and we have absorbed the modern factors. From then on, Chinese contemporary novels developed quickly.In a conclusion, the stream of consciousness as a means of narration is not an end but a start. It is a beginning from which writers use every useful expression to describe human beings themselves.