NARRATIONS OF AMBIGUITY: CONTEMPORARY CHALLENGES TO TRADITIONAL NARRATIVE THEORY

Abstract

This dissertation examines contemporary American novels and short stories through the lens of narrative and rhetorical theory. While I begin by tracing Wayne Booth's contributions in The Rhetoric of Fiction and the multitude of responses and challenges since made towards his book, I concurrently point out the persistent desire among narrative theorists to develop a systematic approach, one that can be applied consistently to all narratives. Recent narratologists have worked to show the variety of ways that narrative texts defy these attempts at systematization; my dissertation is an entry into this area of contemporary narratology. Each of my chapters focuses on a specific narrative element or technique--second person narration; the implied author; reader-as-translator; and collective/missing narrators. Specifically, I argue that narratives from authors such as Junot Diaz, Cormac McCarthy, Helena Maria Viramontes, and Dave Eggers, among others, contain usages of these techniques that further complicate attempts to encapsulate their potential textual potentialities, and that these narrative choices entail specific implications for the larger thematic elements of the narratives. Ultimately, this dissertation is structured in a way that brings together elements of narrative theory, postmodern critical theory, and literary studies in general.