A Study On The Narrative Strategies In Nostromo

Nostromo is hailed by F.R.Leavis as "Conrad's supreme triumph", and is acclaimed by many as his greatest and most ambitious one. It is even comparable to War and Peace in its "modern topic" according to Eloise Knapp Hay. These acknowledgements help to firmly establish the novel as the centrality of Conrad's productive literary creation.Since the 1960s, Nostromo has been extensively analyzed and has been subject to many critical scrutinies in the western world, which generates a great diversity of interpretations. The diverse interpretations of Nostromo demonstrate its depth and complexity. Critical concerns have been given to its thematic profundity and Conradian ideology of politics and materialism pervasive in the novel. Structuralist approach, nevertheless, is not the mainstream, in spite of the well-crafted narrative complexity of the novel. However, Jakob Lothe's comment that "Nostromo is an impressive feat of narrative concentration" highlights the value of its narrative interpretation. The thesis, thus, is devoted to analyzing the sophisticated narrative skills of Nostromo and endeavors to identify the interrelationship between Conradian narrative and Conradian philosophy presented in the novel.The thesis seeks its direct and major theoretical resource from Narrative Discourse by the distinguished French critic Gerard Genette. Close and repeated reading proves to, be inextricable to the fulfillment of this thesis. A number of critical essays on Nostromo, Conradian letters and Conrad's own literary criticism are frequently resorted to for the purpose of intensive exam of the unique Conradian method and ideology of Nostromo.The thesis falls into three parts. Chapter one concentrates on the temporal distortion in Nostromo and the rhetoric effect of impressionism it exemplifies. More exactly, the anachronies, the time-freezing technique and the narrative repetition are explored at great length respectively. Chapter two shifts to the analysis of narrative voice of Nostromo. Focus falls upon the omniscient narrator and other surrogate narrators in Nostromo, in relation to the aesthetic effect of irony. Chapter three discusses Conrad's philosophical views embodied in the narrative strategies of Nostromo, namely his view on history and his scepticism dominating the novel.Exploring Conrad's use of particular narrative strategies observable in his most ambitious work may seem a somewhat dull yet meaningful exercise. A study of the narrative techniques is unusually revealing, for in the narrative skills embedded in the writing of this novel, the novelist discloses something of his unique views to the story told, something of his values and philosophies. It is hoped that the study may shed new light upon the enormous Conradian researches and may be an insightful one.