Sound And Self

Willa Cather was one of the famous writers in the history of American literature in the early twentieth century. She created a series of works rich in western prairie style and pioneer spirit. My Antonia is one of the classical novels among Willa Cather's works. In My Antonia, Willa Cather depicts European immigrants' hard life of exploiting the western wilderness in America, enthusiastically praising Antonia and other female characters who struggle tenaciously with the nature. These female characters are not only the capable women pioneers but also the new female images in the construction of civilization in American. This thesis is based on the theory of Susan Lancer's and Robyn Warhol's feminist narratology. By detailed analysis of the novel this thesis intents to elaborate female voice and female self-consciousness in My Antonia. This thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter introduces feminist narratology and mode of feminist-narratological discourse. The second chapter focuses on the characters in the novel from the narrative perspective, analyzing the exquisite shifting point of view from male focalization to female focalization and elaborating the female self-consciousness. The third chapter is an analysis of female narrative voice, which expounds the construction of Antonia and other female characters' self-authorization and the deconstruction of male authority. The fourth chapter attempts to interpret My Antonia from the perspective of free indirect discourse and free direct discourse and analyze the unique female narrative voice and female self-consciousness. Cather uses the beautiful language to overturn the masculine authority, utter the female challenging voice, and accomplish female self-fulfillment.