The Analysis On Postmodernist Meta-fictional Features In The French Lieutenant’s Woman

The term "postmodernism" originated among artists and critics in New York in the1960s and was taken up by European theorists in the1970s. Meta-fiction is a form of writing and it is often referred to postmodernism. As an advanced capitalist cultural movement, the postmodernism has been penetrating into many art aspects. From its birth, the postmodern meta-fiction has been regarded as challenge to the traditional novel as its mission developing with fast speed. The flourish development of meta-fiction shows the great effort of postmodern writers to break the literary conventions and achieve the literary innovation. Unlike previous literary phenomenon, meta-fiction is not a literary genre with common principles but a result of postmodern writers’ spontaneous practice in the western countries, despite the fact that the creation of meta-fiction is very prosperous. The meta-fictional writing techniques are creative, which breaks the literary previous literary traditions of realism and modernism. In order to rescue postmodernist literature out of trouble and renew the literary artistic brilliance, many writers not only boldly try many unprecedented narrative techniques, but also give a new life to the ancient narrative techniques, so as to innovate the novels’ creative techniques.John Fowles is one of the most famous postmodernist writers in Britain. His most successful novel The French Lieutenant Woman has been widely discussed in terms of theme and narrative technique. This novel presents from a love story set in the Victorian Golden Age of England from20th century perspective, so this novel is post-modern. Compared to modernism literature, postmodernism literature has some of its own characteristics, but the latter pays more attention to "self-reflection" and therefore the postmodern novels are often called "meta-fiction".There is more "self-reflection" in modern narration in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, which makes this novel have more characteristics of the meta-fiction. This thesis intends to make an intensive study on the meta-fictional narrative technique of postmodernism in The French Lieutenant’s Woman. There are five chapters.Chapter one is a brief introduction to John Fowles and his literary works, as well as the basic characteristics of post-modernity. In order to come up with the theories of post-modernity and meta-fiction in chapter two, then it introduces literature review of post-modernity and meta-fiction as well as the significance and creativity of this thesis.Chapter two states the definition, special features, and criteria of meta-fiction and also introduces the writing styles on meta-fiction, including parody, collage, anachronism and so on. As is known to all, meta-fiction is a part of postmodern literature, so this chapter has statements and analyses of the concept and characteristics of post-modennity. Post-modernity has four features as follows:the disappearance of macro-scopical narration and the bevelment of the deep patterns, from diachronism to synchronism, inter-textuality, and the transform of literary center--readers and understandings.Chapter three is the main part of this thesis, and it analyzes the postmodernist meta-fictional features in The French Lieutenant’s Woman. The writer utilizes permutation, contradiction, combination of fiction and fact and other writing techniques which subvert the conventions. The triple endings are highlights in the creation of The French Lieutenant’s Woman, which is quite different from the traditional closed ending. The multiple ending reflects any possibility in life and shows the truth. Moreover, this chapter will analyze the narrator’s identities and perspective. Omnipotent narrators create a real world by their narration of space, time and mentality, while self-reflexive meta-fictional narrators emphasize the novels’ fictionality, breaking the "real illusion"."I" who shuttles between history and reality breaks the "real illusion" further. The permutation of past and presence reflects the novels’ fictionality.Chapter four concludes the postmodernist meta-fictional narrative characteristics in The French Lieutenant’s Woman, and reiterates the writing styles of the postmodern literature and meta-fiction.In general, as a representative postmodernist meta-fiction, The French Lieutenant’s Woman breaks the boundary of reality and fiction, reflecting Fowles’s thoughts of the relationship between history and literature and his appreciation of contemporary novels’ creation.