The Narrative Art Of Michael Ondaatje's Novel: The English Patient

The English Patient made remarkable achievements in its narrative techniques. With multiple narrative voices and immense background of space time,The English Patient contains profound value and boasts the greatest fame in the Postmodern Novels.However,this novel and his author Michael Ondaatje caused little concern in Mainland China,which was manifested in the following ways:Few achievements were made;Literary critics paid little attention;Study of the novel always focused on only one aspect.Furthermore,we find the film got more attention than the novel.This dissertation,based on the theory of Narrative,borrows experiences from Theme Study and Classical Narratology,which help me go deep into the text.In addition to traditional research method,this dissertation wants to apply some method of "Culture Research"(such as the Postcolonial Theory,Historical Narrative, Feminist Literary Theory and so on),so as to dig out some "culture" power behind the context,which may promote academic research on Michael Ondaatje and The English Patient.There are five chapters in this dissertation:Chapter One is an introduction of Michael Ondaatje and The English Patient.By analyzing the current related research situation at home and abroad,Chapter One will affirm the great achievements made in the past,and points out some shortcomings, thus put forward the argumentation of the dissertation.Chapter Two concentrates on the plot and space-time of the novel.The English Patient made up its plot mainly by means of different types of literature and fragmentation in the sequence of events.A huge and wonderful background of space time was successfully constructed by the artistic means such as the Order,the Duration,the Frequency,etc.Chapter Three,starting with the Narrative Perspective and the Narrative Discourse,aims at the theme and the identity of individuals.In the huge background, various focalization and words captured the imagination of thousands of readers and taught them to think deep meaning of the novel.Chapter Four explores Cultural Significance and Cultural Connotations of The English Patient through Postcolonial Theory,Historical Narrative and Feminist Literary Theory.Comparing the novel and the film,different narrative leads to different themes. Chapter Five tells the useful narrative strategies in both forms.The conclusion summarizes the Realistic Significance of the narrative art of Michael Ondaatje's Novel:The English Patient.