Interconnection Between Narrative Forms And Gender Politics

Classical narratology studies the artistic features of texts of fiction via abstract and structural models of narrative analysis, very specific, semiotic and technical, while feminism evokes subjective experience and gender politics, very general, mimetic, and political. With the wave of post-structuralism in critical theories, the critics began to realize the important role of historical context and readers' response in narrative and then combined their studies on the narrative form with ideological, historical, and social contexts of fiction. Feminist theories brought into narratology have enriched narratology and formed an interdisciplinary approach, feminist narratology, a combination of narrative form and gender politics.Having got well—known to readers home and abroad since its publication, Gone with the Wind has been analyzed from various perspectives, focusing on stylistically the theme, characterization and plotting, or sociologically reconstruction of history, feminism and racialism. But investigations on its structure seem deficient; let alone integrating the two, art forms and historical or ideological factors. This thesis studies the authoress, Margaret Mitchell's creative writing in exposing women's inferior status around the civil war and the changing situation after analyzing narrative discourses and perspectives. Being one of the greatest masterpieces in America around 1930s, the novel distinguishes itself by its unique feature to retell American civil war from a female point of view for the first time. However, there are no systematic researches on its feminist narrative perspectives and discourses in terms of feminist narratology. This thesis tries to study Gone with the Wind with the goal to convince Margaret Mitchell's flexibly tactful narrative strategies adopted to bring forth the latent political significance in power from the perspective of feminist narratology.Thematic analysis is introduced into narratological study to discover the connection between narrative patterns and gender politics. It has been found out that the narrator shifts discourses of speech when describing males' and females' view on the war. On the one hand, male characters discuss about political life, including the war, in the form of DD (direct discourse) heard by the heroine, which means the male speakers are saying what they would like to without being intervened or colored by the narrator. However, readers can still notice males' FID (free indirect discourse) for interior thought. The "mixed form somewhere between" the direct discourse and indirect discourse, FID taken as a dual voice of both the narrator and the character, is skillfully chosen to reflect the narrator's antipathy towards the male characters' contempt for women. On the other hand, female characters lost their voice to talk, not to mention to argue as males did, so either are they safeguarded by the males to keep away from those serious talking, or they seemingly reseize their power by speaking in the form of DD. But unluckily enough, even if they narrate about the political stuff, their depictions almost without exception begin with such expressions as "they want to", "everyone believes" and "Hugh told". The reality of unequal status between the two sexes is not difficult to be validated by the sharp contrast.Meanwhile, NRD (narrative report of discourse) has been employed by the narrator to establish her authority. Narrating the story with such a grand background of the Civil War makes it essential for the narrator to report, to give extrarepresentation about the war, which is dark to females in the story, especially the focalized heroine. For this the narrator sets up her voice of the omniscient, both spatially and time, third—person narrator covering large parts of the book. Authorial voice of this kind is designed to reinforce the narrator's superiority. Even more valiantly, a generalized and judgmental narrator can be noticed. Some critics criticize it for "attempting imperiously and violently to dictate to readers". However, it works to inform readers of an all-sided story, hard as it is, by complementing the heroine's simple-minded vision and limited sight to some degree. And it is detected that the narrator seems to hold overadvanced feminist views compared with how someone was supposed to think around 1860s. When establishing her authority in reporting and judging, the narrator does not arbitrarily keep the voice all for her own. Actually, studies indicate that besides the public text of the narrator, the subtext belonging to characters has been concealed behind. Among them the important one lies in the communal voice represented by the townspeople. This voice signifying the old south and its past long traditions from the heroin's mother's silence to citizens of Atlanta censure directly forms a deep-rooted obstacle for the heroine's transformation. Surely the narrator, not taking the side of the heroine totally, sustains her in most cases. That explains why the narrator chooses to give up her voice when necessary, being reticent as the term goes, to strengthen the heroine's personal authority. This thesis tries to provide a new method by which we can acquire a more comprehensive understanding of the ideological significance of the narrative strategies in Gone with the Wind and open up our view of women writers' endeavor to achieve fictional authority both for themselves and for female characters in the patriarchal society.