Dialogism And Carnivalization In Small World

David Lodge is a well-known contemporary British novelist and critic. His works can be divided into two categories:literary study, and the creation of novel and play. Small World has received a lot of popularity since its publication, and was nominated for the Book Prize in1984. As a representative of Lodge’s trilogy, Small World is always regarded as a Postmodern novel. Many literary critics have probed Small World from different perspectives, including its characteristics of postmodernism, unique narrative strategies and the profound theme. However, few critics have made an overall research on it based on dialogism and carnivalization.This thesis attempts to study the reflections of dialogism and carnivalization in Small World according to Bakhtin’s dialogism and carnivalization theories. After a brief introduction to David Lodge, Small World and some important definitions related to Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism and carnivalization, this thesis focuses on the dialogism and carnivalization in Small World in the nuclear part. The nuclear part firstly interprets the reflections of dialogism, especially the great dialogue, including the dialogue between characters, the dialogue between the author and the reader as well as the dialogue between cultures. It is found that the equal dialogues are made between different subjects and the carnival spirit is realized in the process of dialogues. Then, an analysis of the carnivalization is made from three aspects:carnival squares, crowning and decrowning, and the parody in the carnivalized world. Through the analysis, it can be seen that in the novel, all the authorities are subverted and hierarchies eliminated; people gain a kind of feeling of being completely free; the carnival spirit is fully demonstrated through carnivalization of the novel. Finally, the thesis concludes that Bakhtin’s theories of carnivalization and dialogism offer the readers two new perspectives of understanding Small World; the carnival spirit is embodied in dialogues while the carnivalized world serves as a stage for dialogism; the carnival spirit implied in the novel is the right demonstration of the antiauthority conscious. Generally, Small World not only represents the carnival spirit but also protrudes people’s spiritual state in postmodern society—buried in endless pursuit of material enjoyment and fame, spiritually empty, and in need of a goal for life.