Analysis of Narrative Time in To the lighthouse

نوع المستند : المقالة الأصلية

المؤلف

Department of English Language and Literature, Faculty of Arts, Beni-Suef University

المستخلص

The main focus of this study is analyzing narrative time in Virginia Wolf’s To the Lighthouse. The main method chosen for this study is the theory of narratology. Gerard Genette's theory of narrative time in his book Narrative Discourse is applied on To the Lighthouse. Shlomith Rimmon-kenan's theory is also approached in this research as her theory depends mainly on Genette's theory with few modifications. Genette divides narrative time into three dimensions, Order, Duration and Frequency. Each dimension includes varied classifications. For example, inside the first dimension, order, Genette calls the disorder of arranging events as “anachrony” which is divided into “analepsis” and “prolepsis”. The three dimensions are applied on To the Lighthouse with their varied classifications. When the theory of narrative time is applied on each section of the novel, I have found that Virginia Wolf uses “analepsis” in the first section many times ; she uses analepsis in the second section on a very limited range ; she uses analepsis in the third section on a wide range. As for duration, we find that most of events in the novel are classified as “scene” ; she uses the other classifications of duration but very little. As for frequency, the events are classified as “singulative” scenes that are “repetitive” in their nature.

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