A Study of Narrative Techniques for Representing Reality/Fictitiousness: Based on an Empirical Analysis of Faulkner's Expressive Use of Punctuation Signs

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02578
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Literature in English
• Research Institution: Hijiyama University
• Principal Investigator: Shigesako Kazumi 比治山大学, 現代文化学部, 教授 (00279085)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: ウィリアム・フォークナー / 語りの技法 / 物語の現実性と虚構性 / 物語構造分析

Outline of Final Research Achievements

William Faulkner, a representative of modernist literature, is widely recognized for his experimental narrative techniques, which have been extensively researched. However, due to inadequate analytic methods represented by conventional narratology, there remain some strange narrative phenomena that cannot be fully elucidated, and the experiments with narrative techniques in his later works have been overlooked. This study establishes a new method for analyzing narrative techniques with reference to the latest in narratology and cognitive linguistics, clarifies Faulkner's strange narrative phenomena, and reveals that he devised techniques that emphasize “reality” of representation in his earlier works and “fictitiousness” in his later works. Furthermore, by applying this analytic method to narratives other than Faulkner’s novels, this study opens the way for a comparison and contrast study of the narrative structure of Japanese and American narratives across different media.

Free Research Field

アメリカ文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の学術的意義は，第一に，フォークナーの語りの技法研究として，これまで説明できなかった彼の奇妙な語りの現象を明らかにし，これまで見過ごされていた彼の後期作品の語りの技法の実験的意義を明らかにしたことである。第二に，ナラトロジー研究に関与する意義として，従来のナラトロジーが分析できなかったフォークナーの複雑な語りの技法を分析する手法を確立した。第三に，比較文学研究として，本研究者の分析手法をフォークナー小説以外の物語作品に適用し，日米の異ジャンルに渡る物語の物語構造を比較する研究への道筋をつけた。最後に，本分析手法が多様な物語に適用できる汎用性を持つ点で，本研究は社会的意義をも持つと言える。