An Analysis Of Narrative Features In Alice Munro's Dear Life

Alice Munro(1930-),a famous Canadian short story writer,won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2013,becoming the only one to win this honor for short stories to date,as “Master of Contemporary Short Literature” according to the Swedish Academy.Munro?s novels are mostly set in the southwest of Ontario and the northwest coast of the Pacific Ocean in Canada,depicting and portraying the panorama of ordinary life with exquisite and skillful narrative features,which bring readers spiritual resonance.Dear Life,published in 2012,is Munro?s short story collection and her last work.Among the existing research results,most of the researchers are confined to study Dear Life from the perspective of feminism and theme,which cannot reflect Munro?s narrative features of this fiction.In this regard,on the basis of Gerard Genette?s narrative theory and through the methods of close reading and induction,the thesis will break through these limitations and explore Alice Munro?s non-linear narrative time,flexible narrative focalization and multiple narrative voices in Dear Life to reveal Munro?s narrative features and their aesthetic functions.Besides Introduction and Conclusion,the thesis composes of five chapters.Introduction firstly presents Munro and her work Dear Life briefly,then reviews the research and current situation of Munro and her works at home and abroad,through which,it is found that it is a brand-new way to analyze Dear Life from the perspective of Genette?s narrative theory,and lastly states the framework of the whole thesis.Chapter One first gives a brief introduction to the origin and development of Genette?s narrative theory,then presents the main contents of the theory.Chapter Two discusses the volatility of time in Munro?s works from the perspective of time order and frequency,and it points out that by appropriately changing narrative time order and frequency,Munro enriches the story and promotes the plots.Chapter Three analyses the unique arrangement of the characters? views in Dear Life from the perspective of internal focalization and zero focalization,and perceives the variations of the text through the study of flexible narrative focalization.Chapter Four analyzes the different expressions of the characters? voices in Munro?s novels from the perspective of narrative voice,pointing out that Munro achieves the unique narrative effect by adopting different speeches,such as narratized speech and transposed speech.Chapter Five further summarizes the aesthetic functions of narrative by analyzing Munro?s narrative features.Conclusion points out the relevance of each chapter in the thesis,explains Alice Munro?s narrative features and aesthetic function,and discusses the innovative significance of analyzing Dear Life from the perspective of narratology.In all,based on the analysis of narrative features in Dear Life,this thesis tends to discuss Munro?s unique narrative style and explore their aesthetic functions,aiming to express the charm of Dear Life for readers.