A Study On The Narrative Strategies Of Trauma In Falling Man

Don DeLillo is one of the most excellent contemporary novelists in the United States.He was awarded the National Book Award,The Jerusalem Prize,the PEN/Faulkner Award for fiction and so on.Most of his works are related to hot spots.Through the unique writing techniques and narrative style,he describes the life encounters and difficulties of contemporary people.In 2001,after the 9/11 incident,DeLillo immediately turned his attention to this terrorist attack.In the atmosphere that the government and main media tried to make such a model of fearlessness and perseverance of American citizens in this disaster,and tried to contribute this incident to Islamic people's jealousy as well as injustice against the American's power,DeLillo transcended the traditional narrative standpoint.By Falling Man,with unique writing style,he portrayed many characters who have been defeated by disasters and suffered severe trauma.He also abandoned the traditional method of liner narrative,and used the way of fragmental narrative to let the concussion of 9/11 attack recurred,and to give the characters traumatized in this disaster the right to express their experience.A narrative study of Falling Man can make us touch DeLillo's charm of writing,explore the profound meaning of "trauma" conveyed by this novel,and approach to his rethink about this disaster.This thesis conducts research from three aspects:story level,discourse level,and narrative time and space transformation.The content includes five parts.The introduction mainly summarizes the impact of 9/11 on literature,which is DeLillo's traumatic narrative background,then Don DeLillo the writer and his work Falling Man together with its study significance,the relative researches,and the theory that are involved in this paper.Then,chapter one starts from the perspective of characters of the story,which belongs to the layer of story,and explores the individual traumatic experiences,the traumatic stress exhibited in the novel,including the heroes Keith,Lianne and Justin,and the groups as the whole background in the novel.It aims to reveal that both individuals and collectives were harmed during and after the 9/11 incident.Chapter two is based on discourse level to analyze the multiple metaphor of "falling",constant conversion of narrative perspective in the novel,which create a repressive and morbid atmosphere.By discussing these narrative techniques,it aims to reflect that the people in the story always live in the shadow of 9/11.Chapter three links story with discourse,and discusses narrative time and narrative space in the novel.It shows that even experiencing the changes of time and space,the characters are still indulged in trauma,unable to get rid of the haze of this terrorist attack.The last part is conclusion,which summarizes the full text,concludes DeLillo's narrative strategies for emphasizing the theme of trauma,and briefly analyzes the significance of Don DeLillo's narrative on trauma in Falling Man.