A Study On The Writing Strategies Of The Metaifction-Pale Fire

Nabokov is recognized as one of the most outstanding writers and the pioneer ofexperimental novels in the field of postmodern literature whose works exert a significant rolein the development of postmodern literature. His fiction Pale Fire is a typical metafictionwhich is famous for its special form and experimental language games. But the study from theperspective of metafiction on Nabokov’s novel mainly focuses on Lolita. Thus, this thesis,based on the detailed analysis of text and the achievement of the previous people, makesanalysis of the writing strategies of metafiction including the new roles of readers and authors,the use of parody and language games to explore the metafictional features of Pale Fire, andshow Nabokov’s special value of literature and reality.There are six chapters in the thesis. Chapter One is the introduction including Nabokov’slife, his works, and the brief introduction of his works Pale Fire, and the introduction to theliterature review of Pale Fire, and shows the significance of the thesis.Chapter Two is the brief introduction of the background, definitions of metafiction andthe main writing strategies of metafiction in this thesis, including the new roles of readers andauthors, the use of parody, words and language games.Chapter Three to Chapter Five are the main body of the thesis. Chapter Three makesanalysis of the new roles of readers and authors in Pale Fire. Nabokov lays great emphasis onthe readers, so he sets many blanks and obstacles in Pale Fire, which need readers’participation to construct the text. At the same time, the writers in the fiction act as not onlythe creators but also the critics to comment on the creation of the text or express their ideasand attitude to something or someone, which make the fiction with strong self-reflexivity andguide readers to discover the fictionality of the fiction.Chapter Four analyzes the use of parody in Pale Fire. The use of parody reaches theextreme in Pale Fire. Nabokov parodies different genres in Pale Fire, and the title of thefiction comes from Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens. And he also uses self-parody in Pale Fire.The employment of parody lets the readers think about the relationship between reality andfiction, and reveal the fictionality of the fiction.Chapter Five make a research on the language and words games in Pale Fire. Nabokovonly cares about the language itself and shows a zest for pursuing creativity on language.There are many language and words games in Pale Fire that make the readers realize that thefiction is only the product of langue to reveal the fictionality of the fiction.Chapter Six is the conclusion. The thesis gets the conclusion that Nabokov employs threemain writing strategies of metafiction in Pale Fire to express the metafictional features ofPale Fire. By the analysis of thesis, readers get that Pale Fire is a great model of metaficiton and Nabokov is a typical metafictionist with keen self-consciousness and special view ofliterature and reality. He exerts an important role in the development of postmodern literatureand metaficiton.