An Analysis Of The Postmodernist Writing Techniques In David Lodge's Campus Trilogy

David Lodge is a distinguished contemporary novelist.His Campus Trilogy(Changing Places,Small World and Nice Work)are written based on campus life and has achieved a great success since they were published.Various writing techniques containing Postmodernist features and theoretical discourses have been employed in these three novels,illustrating Lodge?s solid knowledge of literature and literary theories as a famous novelist.The thesis gives a comprehensive analysis of the Postmodernist writing techniques utilized in Campus Trilogy from three aspects: the narrative perspective,narrative structure and narrative skills.It also presents Lodge?s reflections on some social problems,which have significantly inspired readers the methods to solve realistic problems in our society.The thesis is made up of three parts: the introduction,the main body and the conclusion.The introduction introduces the translation of the Campus Trilogy,the studies on them both at home and abroad,and their theoretical and realistic significance.Since Small World has been translated into Chinese in 1992,the interests of scholars at home in the Campus Trilogy have never ceased.They have conducted profound analyses from the perspective of themes,characters and so on.However,there are also several limitations in their studies,for example the studies on the three novels are unbalanced.These limitations are going to be presented in this chapter.The main body is composed of four chapters.The first outlines a brief account of Lodge?s life and the Campus Trilogy,as well as the basic theoretical knowledge of Postmodernism.The second chapter analyzes these three novels from the point of narrative perspective.According to arrangement of plots and contents,the writer has employed zero,internal and external focalization in a flexible way to illustrate his stories.These three kinds of focalization have their respective features,and Lodge has made good use of these features to show readers the things he wants them to know.Meanwhile,he hides something that he doesn?t want readers to know,so the readers are left with the infinite space of imagination.The third chapter concerns the narrative structure in the Campus Trilogy.In the design of characters and arrangement of plots,Lodge employs deliberately the binary structure to show the conflicts and confrontation between English and American cultures,the elite and mass cultures,the campus and industrial cultures.This Postmodernist structural mode has made the stories fascinating and attractive to readers.Besides,it requires readers to spend more energies in reading and thinking.The fourth chapter deals with the intertextual narrative skills used in the Campus Trilogy,like quotation,collage,parody and pastiche.Intertextual narrative technique is one of the classic Postmodernist narrative techniques.By establishing connections with other texts,the use of intertextuality has broken the unity of novels and made novels in a scattered environment of diversity.The application of intertextuality has enhanced the uncertainty of novels,which conforms with the “Non-Centralism and meaninglessness” that Postmodernism advocates.The conclusion presents the research results of the thesis.Having analyzed from the angles of its narrative perspective,narrative structure and narrative skills,the thesis has come to the conclusion that Campus Trilogy has possessed distinct Postmodernist features,which demonstrates Lodge?s conscious employment of Postmodernist writing skills and techniques under the Postmodern social background.What need to be noticed is his novels are not as abstruse as other Postmodernist works.There is English humor in his novels,such as the use of parody which enhances the ironic effects and makes his novels interesting to read.This part also points out the guiding significance the thesis possesses towards solving realistic problems.Lodge has revealed the confrontation and differences between cultures,but that is not his sole purpose.He has also shown his opinions on these social problems and offered his solutions,that is communication.Only communication can help two different cultures learn from each other and coexist harmoniously.However,due to the limited documentation,the analysis the thesis makes on the Campus Trilogy has its shortcomings and limitations,for example the thesis fails to further elaborate the application of binary structure in other factors other than the design of characters and arrangement of plots.In summary,various Postmodernist writing techniques has been utilized in Lodge?s novels,which is both skillful and readable for readers.Meanwhile,Lodge has shown his profound thoughts about our society.