Narrative Judgments In The Sense Of An Ending

As a prolific postmodern writer,Julian Barnes(1946-)has a high reputation in contemporary British literary world.His works have been nominated for the Man Booker Prize four times.Finally,he became the winner of the Man Booker Prize for The Sense of an Ending in 2011.The novel takes the protagonist Tony Webster's twice recollections of the past as clues to trace Tony's personal history,which shows Tony's reflection on himself and his growth.Researches on this novel at home and abroad have made certain achievements,but so far,no one has studied it from the perspective of James Phelan's theory of narrative judgments.As one of the leading figures of post-classical narratology,James Phelan's narrative theory emphasizes the communication among author,text and readers.As a branch of Phelan's theory,narrative judgments play an important role in his entire theory,which include three types: interpretive judgments,ethical judgments and aesthetic judgments.This thesis tries to make an analysis of The Sense of an Ending by using Phelan's theory of narrative judgments to reveal Barnes' s superb narrative art.This thesis consists of six parts: introduction,four chapters and conclusion.Introduction briefly introduces the life of Julian Barnes and the honors he has received and then summarizes the plot of The Sense of an Ending.After this,it reviews the studies of Barnes' s works at home and abroad,and points out the research significance of this thesis.Chapter One first combs the origin and development of rhetorical narrative theory and the main representative figures in each period.Then the life of James Phelan and his theory of narrative judgments are introduced in details.Chapter Two analyzes Tony and readers' twice different interpretive judgments on the main characters' behaviors in the novel.In Tony's first recollection,due to his sense of inferiority and Veronica's refusal of communication,he makes false interpretive judgments on Veronica,her family members and Adrian's behaviors.He thinks Veronica does not love him,her family members despise him and Adrian betrays him.Influenced by Tony's judgments,readers are inclined to agree with Tony's opinions,but readers' interpretive judgments are not totally in accordance with Tony's,which forms the tension between the narrator Tony and readers.This promotes the narrative progression of the novel.In Tony's second recollection,he knows the truth of past things and realizes his prejudice against other people.He begins to have a reflection on himself and finally makes right interpretive judgments on the main characters' behaviors.At the same time,readers also make interpretive re-judgments on the main characters' behaviors.Up to now,readers and Tony's interpretive judgments are integrated,which ends the narrative progression of the novel.On the basis of Chapter Two,Chapter Three analyzes Tony and readers' twice different ethical judgments on the main characters' behaviors in the novel.In Tony's first recollection,he makes wrong interpretive judgments on other characters' behaviors,which lead to his negative ethical judgments on other characters.He thinks Veronica and Adrian's behaviors are immoral.However,readers' ethical judgments are different from Tony's.Due to the subjectivity of Tony's first person narration,readers think it is not safe to conclude that Veronica and Adrian's behaviors are immoral.With Tony's second recollection,the truth of everything comes to light.At this point,both Tony and readers make ethical re-judgments on the characters' behaviors,and finally make right ethical judgments.Through twice ethical judgments,readers not only have a deeper understanding of the novel but also feel Barnes' s superb narrative skills,which provide basis for readers' aesthetic judgments.On the basis of Chapter Two and Three,Chapter Four illustrates readers' aesthetic judgments on the whole novel.Through the narrative techniques of repeating narrative,multiple-focalization and unreliable narrator,Barnes not only realizes both his and the narrator's purposes,but also breaks readers' reading expectations and gives them a pleasant reading experience so that readers make positive aesthetic judgments on the novel.Conclusion gives a summary of this thesis.Through the analysis of narrative judgments in the novel,this thesis shows the organic connections among the three kinds of narrative judgments.While promoting the progression of the novel,the three kinds of judgments also realize the perfect integration of the novel in narrative form,narrative ethics and narrative aesthetics,which helps readers to understand and appreciate Barnes' s narrative art in a better way.