Inquiry Into Complicated Humanity

The distinguished British writer Ian McEwan (1948-) is noted for his bold subject matters and unique narrative skills since his debut into the literary world in 1970s. For more than 30 years, he has been prolific and famed, as his works have frequently ranked among the best seller and received many grand awards from Europe and America, including the celebrated Man Booker Prize, which earns his reputation as one of the most outstanding mainstream novelists in contemporary English writing.McEwan's tour de force in the new century-Atonement (2001) has been highly concerned and evaluated by academia and mass media.McEwan divulges the narrative antinomy through the self-subversion of narrative structure and discourse, faithfully delineating the fierce rencounter between desire and expiation in the narrator's mind, which reflects his profound ponderation on humanity.Based on the theories of deconstructionist narratology formulated by the American critic J. Hillis Miller, this thesis makes a tentative study of the deconstructive narrative strategy in Atonement, with the intention of exposure McEwan's humanistic concern in postmodern narration. Structurally, this thesis falls into three parts, among which the introductory part mentions McEwan's literary achievement and the critical reception of Atonement, as well as the reasonability of Miller's concept of deconstructive narration as the theoretical basis. The body part constructs a progressive framework of argumentation, which is composed of three chapters. Chapter One focuses on the deconstruction of narrative structure in the form of textual parasitism. Chapter Two points out the ambiguity in narration which is initiated by the intertwining of narrative lines. Chapter Three brings forth the real intention of narrator and specifies the contradictory in human nature through analysis of ironic discourse. Finally, it concludes that Ian McEwan expresses his persistent concern on humanity via displaying the paradoxical mind of narrator in narrative procedure with self-reflexive strategy.