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A Study of Alienation in Anne Tyler’s Works Based on Genette’s Narrative Theories –Taking >Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant< and >The Accidental Tourist< for Examples, World Literature, China University of Geosciences, Beijing, China 2021 [application of Fromm's theories to art].

  • Anne Tyler is deemed as one of the most outstanding writers and literary critics in contemporary America. Over her long career, distinguished by her vivid description of the conflicts in family life, Tyler has continually published over twenty novels, as well as over fifty short stories and numerous book reviews. Among them, Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant (1982) and >The Accidental Tourist< (1985) are two typical examples. The two novels share a common theme: alienation and loneliness, and the author uses the narrative model of internal focalization in both novels. The difference is that in >Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant<, Tyler flexibly adopts three models of internal focalization: fixed internal focalization, variable internal focalization and multiple internal focalization. While in >The Accidental Tourist<, fixed internal focalization is employed throughout the story. These two novels do not have the tortuous and bizarre storyline, but only revolve around trivial matters that have occurred in family, including the contradiction and estrangement between family members and so on. Judging from the existing literature at home and abroad, there is still great potential for in-depth research on Anne Tyler and her two novels. Based on Gérard Genette’s Narrative Theories, this thesis is devoted to a comparative study of alienation in Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and >The Accidental Tourist< by means of close reading and theoretical analysis, so as to help readers gain a deep understanding of Tyler’s writing style and alienation theme, and also render a new perspective for further interpretation of Tyler’s family novels. This thesis consists of six parts. Chapter One first gives a brief introduction to the writer Anne Tyler and her works. Then, the definition of alienation is presented, especially Fromm’s views on alienation. In the end of this chapter, the significance and structure of the thesis are pointed out.– Chapter Two is Literature Review. In this part, the study on Anne Tyler and her two representative novels at home and abroad are shown.– Chapter Three is the theoretical framework of the thesis, in which Genette’s narratology theory is explained in detail, especially the narrative focalization: zero focalization, internal focalization, external focalization.– Chapter Four and Chapter Five are the main body of the thesis. Chapter Four aims to compare and analyze the manifestation of alienation in the two novels from different internal focalization types. This chapter can be divided into two parts. The first part will analyze the self-alienation in the two novels. The second part will explore the alienation of interpersonal relationship in the two novels, including two types: the alienation among family members and the alienation with non-family members. And the environmental alienation will be taken into consideration in this part, which accelerates the alienation of characters in the two novels.– Chapter Five is expected to elaborate the external and internal reasons of the alienation in the two novels, and explore the countermeasures to overcome alienation. External reasons, such as the social and historical background, the writer’s experience, the influence of American Southern literature and the family background are analyzed. In view of the internal reasons, this thesis puts an emphasis on personal attitude and choice. In terms of countermeasures, the strength of family ties weakens the alienation in >Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant<. While in >The Accidental Tourist<, the greatness of affection helps the protagonist Macon overcome alienation partially.– Chapter Six – conclusion part, the author summaries the previous viewpoints and puts forward the suggestion for further study. [www.cnki.net, 1/2023]

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Metadaten
Author:Lin Wu
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:Chinese
Year of first Publication:2021
Release Date:2024/04/04
Format:no download and copy possible
IdNo:Wu_Lin_2021
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Dissertations / Dissertationen
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Dissertations / Dissertationen
Licence (German):
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