| Dear Life is Munro's fourteenth fiction published in 2012,which contains all the recurring themes in Munro's oeuvres: growth,marriage,love,illness and death.However,as Munro's last work,it puts the stories in a fresh perspective and most of them are told from retrospect.This thesis tries to interpret Dear Life comprehensively within the theoretical framework of the theory of communicative action.Through a detailed textual analysis of the work,this study explores how Munro elevates the problem of the relationships between men and women,parents and children to the philosophical level within her portrayal of the daily life of common people;it also refracts Munro's reflection on rational paradox in modern society and her quest for the reproduction of the lifeworld.This thesis is composed of five chapters.Chapter One is the introduction.Chapter Two conducts a deep analysis on why and how Munro reveals the colonization of the lifeworld and the individuals' quest for power in the course of depicting female individuals' sufferings and resistance against patriarchy in Amundsen,Leaving Maverley and Haven.Chapter Three elucidates Munro's exploration of rational family relationships and rational conducts in To Reach Japan,Gravel and Night,and digs out the significance of communicating and reaching understanding in the construction of family harmony.Chapter Four explores the interactions contained in individuals' socialization and social integration in Pride and Train,points out its significance and ponders upon the practical significance of individuals' learning mechanism,morality and culture in the reproduction of the lifeworld.Chapter Five is the conclusion: Munro employs Dear Life as a medium to examine rationality in modern life;with the exploration of individuals' quest for power,family's quest for harmony and society's quest for reproduction,Munro presents the social pathologies,exposes the truths of life and the frailties of human condition,and rewrites the realistic predicament of the individuals in modern families and society;Munro's reflection on Dear Life clearly shows her concern on the development of society as well as human existence,which also refracts the writer's intense senses of humanistic concern and social responsibility. |
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