On The Narrative Strategies Of Tristram Shandy By Laurence Stern

This thesis intends to probe into the unique narrative strategies of the novel Tristram Shandy from the point of view of the non-linear narrative, the meta-narrative, the narrative time, the literary counterpoint, and the narrative language, with the aim of providing a new version for the study of Tristram Shandy.In Chapter One, the thesis focuses on the narrative technique, the narrator follows non-linear narrative pattern. Because of the many digressions, the story line is sinuate and the narrative pattern is complicated. Extra-verbal elements also contribute to the complication of the narrative. By using the non-linear narrative pattern, Tristram makes the text more unpredictable, so the path of the story becomes increasingly complicated and nonlinear. In this way, he keeps the reader's interest in the novel. Thus the novel not only shows vividly the flow of Tristram's mind to his readers, but also makes his readers experience what Tristram experienced as a man and an author with immediacy.Chapter Two concentrates on the novel's meta-narrative. Tristram presents his perceptions and his sufferings during his telling of his story. A large part of the novel is showing his difficulty in story telling and his communication with his reader. He also inserts his comments on the writing into the story line. Compared with the conventional novel, the narrator is more self-conscious. The concept"meta-fiction"was first suggested by William H. Gass in 1970. But Stern practiced it two centuries before. And it influenced the authors of modernism and postmodernism.In Chapter Three, the thesis draws the reader's attention to the narrative time and the literary counterpoint. The narrator deals with the narrative time in a very skillful way. He was influenced greatly by Lock's theory about time, and gets rid of the control of the clock time and narrates the story by Synchronic narrative. In the narrator's story telling, different events occur in the same time; all the characters and events are independent but appear harmonious together in the novel. So Tristram imitates counterpoint from the musical composing. We may call it literary counterpoint. So all the events progress with the digressions.Chapter Four discusses the narrative language. The language in this novel is distinctive. By means of humor, satire, ambiguity and pun, the author presents the characters'behavior and hobbies. So the characters appear comical and ridiculous. And it adds the comedic effect to the novel.The narrative of Tristram Shandy is so unique and uncommon that it provides an abundant resource for the critics'study. By his unique native technique, Stern influenced authors generation after generation.