摘要
The contemporary English novelist and literary critic David Lodge has published sixteen works of fiction,including the latest published short story collections The Man Who Wouldn't Get Up and Other Stories(2016).In this work,the first story The Man Who Wouldn't Get Up is the earliest one which was written in the winter of 1965-1966 and mainly tells about a professional man who refuses to get up in order to escape the harsh world and I chiefly discuss the paratexts of it.Gerard Genette defines paratexts as"are those liminal devices and conventions,both within and outside the book,that form part of the complex mediation between book, author, publisher, and reader:titles,forewords,epigraphs,and publishers'jacket copy are part of a book's private and public history."In this paper,I adopt Genette's theory of paratexts which provides a unique theoretical approach for fiction study and apply it to the analysis of Lodge's The Man Who Wouldn't Get Up and Other Stories.The work is rich in miscellaneous paratexts which are one of the characteristics of this work and aid comprehension while shortening the distance between author and reader.The paper mainly examines the peritext:the elements inserted into the interstices,such as,the cover,title,epigraph,biography of the author,reviews of the book,foreword,jacket copy,illustration,dedication,afterword and acknowledgements.Investigating the peritexts of the work indicates the unique function and the significance of the thresholds of interpretation to the fictional text.Ultimately,they become the medium of communication between the author,the text and the reader,and are exemplary of Lodge's creativity and hybrid narrative style.
The contemporary English novelist and literary critic David Lodge has published sixteen works of fiction,including the latest published short story collections The Man Who Wouldn't Get Up and Other Stories(2016).In this work,the first story The Man Who Wouldn't Get Up is the earliest one which was written in the winter of 1965-1966 and mainly tells about a professional man who refuses to get up in order to escape the harsh world and I chiefly discuss the paratexts of it.Gerard Genette defines paratexts as"are those liminal devices and conventions,both within and outside the book,that form part of the complex mediation between book, author, publisher, and reader:titles,forewords,epigraphs,and publishers'jacket copy are part of a book's private and public history."In this paper,I adopt Genette's theory of paratexts which provides a unique theoretical approach for fiction study and apply it to the analysis of Lodge's The Man Who Wouldn't Get Up and Other Stories.The work is rich in miscellaneous paratexts which are one of the characteristics of this work and aid comprehension while shortening the distance between author and reader.The paper mainly examines the peritext:the elements inserted into the interstices,such as,the cover,title,epigraph,biography of the author,reviews of the book,foreword,jacket copy,illustration,dedication,afterword and acknowledgements.Investigating the peritexts of the work indicates the unique function and the significance of the thresholds of interpretation to the fictional text.Ultimately,they become the medium of communication between the author,the text and the reader,and are exemplary of Lodge's creativity and hybrid narrative style.
引文
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