On Analysis Of Postmodern Narrative Techniques In The Golden Notebook

Doris Lessing was born in Iran. Her original name is Tayler. Her parents are the British. Lessing was awarded the 2007 Nobel Prize in literature, being one of the most important writers in modern Britain. She created many works. Besides long novels, she also wrote many poems, essays, plays and short novels ect. Among those works, The Golden Notebook is her master work. There is no plot in this novel. In it, Lessing gave up the traditional chronological -order writing methods she used to employ. Instead, she showed the life of heroine Anna Wulf from the multiple angles. The book intersperses segments of an ostensibly realistic narrative of the lives of Molly and Anna, and their children, ex-husbands and lovers—entitled Free Women—with excerpts from Anna's four notebooks, coloured black (of Anna's experience in Central Africa, before and during WWII, which inspired her own bestselling novel), red (of her experience as a member of the Communist Party), yellow (an ongoing novel that is being written based on the painful ending of Anna's own love affair), and blue (Anna's personal journal where she records her memories, dreams, and emotional life). Each notebook is returned to four times, interspersed with episodes from Free Women, creating non-chronological, overlapping sections that interact with one another. In front of the last parts of Free Women, there is a golden notebook to be a separate part.This paper mainly discusses the unique narrative techniques from the postmodern angle. This novel,published in 1962,really and truly established her status as a literature master.This work, which caused a sensation in the literary and critical field,described the social living conditions, the emotional experience of"free feminine", and the survival unfavorable situation faced with human beings in1950s.It was stated from the single authoress'view, using the novel and adventurous artistic techniques.The value of this novel is not only discovering the social conditions,the spiritual visage and the moral vogue,but also its narrative techniques.The multiple natures embodied in the novel's theme,art and the possibility of explanation are the key points of this paper. This thesis mainly analyzes carefully the unique narrative techniques of post-modernized novel,which is just another possibility of the multiple explanation.Postmodernism appeared in 1960s. In 1980s, it reached its height which is the hot spot of the western scholars and mainstream. Postmodernism is difficult to define, because to define it would violate the postmodernist's premise that no definite terms, boundaries, or absolute truths exist. In this article, the term"postmodernism"will remain vague, since those who claim to be postmodernists have varying beliefs and opinions on issues. Postmodernists believe that the West's claims of freedom and prosperity continue to be nothing more than empty promises and have not met the needs of humanity. They believe that truth is relative and truth is up to each individual to determine for himself. Thus considered, such representative figures as, Derrida, Lyotard, Foucault, Rorty, Jameson, Jurgen Habermas ect.Postmodernism is a philosophical movement away from the viewpoint of modernism. More specifically it is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problem of objective truth and inherent suspicion towards global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. It involves the belief that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change inherent to time and place. It emphasizes the role of language, power relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial.There are many kinds of postmodern narrative techniques such as montage, collage, intertextuality and parody ect. They are the methods postmodernists often use. In The Golden Notebook, Lessing also used many postmodern narrative techniques.This paper is composed of five parts. The introduction part summarizes the works in Doris Lessing's life and her novel The Golden Notebook, introduce what is postmodernism and the postmodern narrative techniques and gives a brief introduction of the research around the world,which provide theoretical basis and assurance.The first chapter discusses the characteristics of narrative words from its multiple main bodies,broken narration and alternative techniques,displaying the innovation of format and techniques,and the diversified narrative techniques it uses in the post-modernized novel, showing that it is experimental and its content is like a spreading spider web. The second chapter mainly discusses the usage of the postmodern narrative techniques-montage and collage in this novel analyzing the specific reflection and usage of these two narrative methods. The third chapter is about intertextuality. The part analyzes how the author used the intertextuality with the classic work and myth and imitation with some differences to show her point of view. The conclusion affirms the former analyses of The Golden Notebook,and states that it is a post-modernized work and one of the most origin—style works.