Dual Narrative Dynamics

184 Pages·2022·2.137 MB·English

by  Dan Shen

Dual Narrative Dynamics
Combining narratological and stylistic methods, this book theorizes dual narrative
dynamics consisting of plot development and covert progression and demonstrates
the consequences for the interpretation of literary works.
In narratives with such dynamics, writers work simultaneously with overt and
covert trajectories of signification, establishing a range of relationships between
them. The two parallel narrative movements may complement, contradict, or
even subvert each other, and these relationships significantly influence readers’
understanding not just of events but also of characters, themes, and aesthetic
values. The book provides a systematic theoretical account of such previously
neglected dual narrative dynamics, substantiated and enriched by the textual
analysis of works by Ambrose Bierce, Kate Chopin, Franz Kafka, and Katherine
Mansfield. The study explores the many ways that these authors have used dual
dynamics to increase the power of their narratives. In addition, the book identifies
the challenges such dual dynamics present not only for narratology but also for
stylistics and translation studies, and it develops sound and provocative proposals
for meeting those challenges.
In taking an interdisciplinary approach, this book will appeal to scholars and
students in the fields of narrative and literary theory, literary criticism, literary
stylistics, and translation studies.
Dan Shen is Boya Chair Professor of English at Peking University, China. She is
on the advisory boards of Narrative and Style, the editorial board of Language and
Literature, and also a consultant editor of Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative
Theory. She has published seven books, including Style and Rhetoric of Short
Narrative Fiction with Routledge.
China Perspectives
The China Perspectives series focuses on translating and publishing works
by leading Chinese scholars, writing about both global topics and China-
related themes. It covers Humanities & Social Sciences, Education, Media and
Psychology, as well as many interdisciplinary themes.
This is the first time any of these books have been published in English for
international readers. The series aims to put forward a Chinese perspective, give
insights into cutting-edge academic thinking in China, and inspire researchers
globally.
To submit proposals, please contact the Taylor & Francis Publisher for China
Publishing Programme, Lian Sun (Lian .Sun @informa. com)
Titles in literature currently include:
A Comprehensive Study of Tang Poetry I
Lin Geng
A Comprehensive Study of Tang Poetry II
Lin Geng
A Thematic Exploration of Twentieth-Century Western Literature
Jiang Chengyong
Oral Epic Traditions in China and Beyond
Chao Gejin
A Study of the Urban Poetics of Frank O'Hara
Wang Xiaoling, Wang Yuzhi and Zheng Mingyuan
After Postmodernism
Wang Ning
Dual Narrative Dynamics
Dan Shen
Chinese Thought in a Multi-cultural World
Cross-Cultural Communication, Comparative Literature and Beyond
YUE Daiyun
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Dual Narrative Dynamics
Dan Shen
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 Dan Shen
The right of Dan Shen to be identified as author of this work has been
asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Shen, Dan, 1958-author.
Title: Dual narrative dynamics/Dan Shen.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon; New York, NY: Routledge, 2023. |
Series: China perspectives | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022030758 (print) | LCCN 2022030759 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032403465 (hardback) | ISBN 9781032404325 (paperback) |
ISBN 9781003353027 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Narration (Rhetoric)–Philosophy. | Fiction–Technique. |
LCGFT: Literary criticism.
Classification: LCC PN3383.N35 S44 2023 (print) | LCC PN3383.N35
(ebook) | DDC 808/.036–dc23/eng/20220815
LC record available at https://lccn. loc .gov /2022030758
LC ebook record available at https://lccn. loc .gov /2022030759
ISBN: 978-1-032-40346-5 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-40432-5 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-35302-7 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003353027
Typeset in Times New Roman
by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
In memory of J. Hillis Miller

Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
PART I
Theory 17
1 Uniqueness of “Covert Progression” and its Different Relations
with Plot Development 19
2 Why covert progressions have been neglected and how to uncover
them 30
3 How dual dynamics can transform and extend narratology 41
4 How dual dynamics challenges stylistics and how to meet the
challenge 51
5 How dual dynamics challenges translation and how to meet
the challenge 63
PART II
Practice 77
6 Naturalistic covert progression behind complicated plot
development: Chopin’s “A Pair of Silk Stockings” 79
7 Dual dynamics versus single dynamic: Bierce’s “A Horseman in
the Sky” and “The Affair at Coulter’s Notch” 94
viii Contents
8 Societal Conflict Hidden Behind Personal Conflict: Kafka’s “The
Judgment” 108
9 Actually unrequited behind superficially mutual love: Mansfield’s
“Psychology” 116
10 One focalization, dual progression, and twofold irony: Mansfield’s
“A Dill Pickle” 131
11 Gender reversal behind miserable life: Mansfield’s “Life of Ma
Parker” in contrast with Chekhov’s “Misery” 146
Conclusion 161
Index 169
Acknowledgments
I am grateful, first of all, to the late J. Hillis Miller, who gave me valuable support,
advice, and encouragement from the time we first met in 1988 until his passing
in 2021. His utmost kindness, helpfulness, and generosity continue to inspire my
research.
Although this book breaks new ground in exploring the theory and practice of
dual narrative dynamics, it is strongly influenced by the work of James Phelan
who has been leading the rhetorical investigation of narrative progression. It is
very much under the profound influence of Jim’s work that I have developed
into a rhetorical scholar. Jim has not only given me invaluable feedback on the
introduction and some other parts of this book but also helped me greatly in the
international dialogue on dual narrative dynamics in the special issue of Style
(spring 2021). Jim read the manuscript of my target essay (in a sense a miniature
of the theoretical part of this book) and my rejoinders to other scholars’ responses,
and I have benefited immensely from his astute advice, trenchant questions, and
incisive specific suggestions.
I am deeply indebted to John V. Knapp, the editor of Style, for kindly inviting
me to write the target essay and for his sagacious comments on its two drafts.
I’m grateful to him and the assistant editor Max Hoover for inviting a number of
scholars across the world to respond to my target essay, scholars whose percep-
tive and thought-provoking observations have influenced the introduction and the
theoretical part of this book. Although I have never met John, I know him through
our correspondence as an extremely kind, generous, and helpful colleague, whose
advice has helped advance my thinking on dual narrative dynamics. John pub-
lished my first essay on dual textual dynamics and dual readerly dynamics in
2015 and then four of my other essays on these topics from different angles. His
and the anonymous readers’ belief in the value of my inquiries has contributed
substantially to my own.
I am also deeply grateful to H. Porter Abbott, Jonathan Culler, John Pier, and
Wolf Schmid for their helpful suggestions and strong support for my project. I am
much obliged to them and two anonymous Routledge reviewers for their insight-
ful comments on an earlier version of the introduction of this book.
I also owe debts of gratitude to numerous other colleagues and friends, espe-
cially those in the International Society for the Study of Narrative, the European