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Web of Proceedings - Francis Academic Press
Web of Proceedings - Francis Academic Press

Historicity in Narratology:A Case Study of Julian Barnes’ Latest Two Novels

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DOI: 10.25236/icssae.2019.089

Author(s)

Lan Lan

Corresponding Author

Lan Lan

Abstract

Seeking truth and historicity is the everlasting theme in Julian Barnes fictions. Barnes’ perception of history presents gradual but evident changes in his novels. From the failure of tracing historicity in Flaubert’s Parrot, to endowing historicity to individual history with the ending in The Sense of an Ending, and then to the description of Shostakovich’s feelings and thoughts with stream of consciousness in The Noise of Time, Barnes narrates his perception of truth and historicity with totally different narratology approaches. This paper will analyze Barnes perception of history with the narratology approaches applied in his latest two fictions. And from this analysis, we can see that narratology is not merely an approach of telling stories in Barnes’ fictions, but also a presentation of his understanding of historicity.

Keywords

Historicity; Narratology; Kermodian Fiction Paradigm; Stream of Consciousness; Space