摘 要

后现代主义作为一种复杂的思维方式，对现代性进行了反叛和超越。它强调主体的解构，破除了二元的思维模式，尊重差异且强调平等。同时后现代主义对小说也产生了非常深远的影响和启示，并由此产生了后现代主义小说。约翰·福尔斯作为当代作家，是英国后现代主义小说的开创性代表人物，在英国文学乃至世界文坛上都享有盛名。在约翰·福尔斯创作的六部长篇小说中，《法国中尉的女人》是其创作的后现代主义小说的代表作。本论文系统地阐述了后现代主义的定义，深入地分析了《法国中尉的女人》一书中所体现的后现代主义的写作技巧，从而进一步分析了后现代主义文学的基本写作特征。《法国中尉的女人》这部长篇小说之所以能够成为约翰·福尔斯最引人关注的作品，原因便在于它突破了以往那些小说的创作局限，开辟了创新的写作手法和与众不同的情节的安排以及塑造了具有鲜明个性的角色。该书中使用的这些截然不同的写作形式和故事的设定都体现出了后现代主义，使其成为了英国后现代小说创作的典型范例。《法国中尉的女人》还具有不同于常规小说的多重结局-即此书具有三种不同的开放性结局。颠覆了传统小说的内部结构和形态。本篇论文根据对《法国中尉的女人》中体现的语言、内容和故事发展情节，从而分析其所体现的后现代主义小说所具有的“元小说”“不确定性”“互文性”这三个基本特征，以便读者能够更加了解后现代主义小说。同时，本文还通过结合作者所处的时代，家庭以及个人背景来分析作者创作该小说的初衷。从后现代主义的视角下，分析《法国中尉的女人》中运用的后现代主义写作技巧和该小说体现的后现代主义特征，对后现代主义文学的基本特征有更加深入的了解.

关键词：后现代主义文学；法国中尉的女人；元小说；不确定性；互文性

Abstract

Postmodernism,as a complicated way of thinking, has rebelled and transcended modernity. It emphasizes the deconstruction of the subject, breaks the dual thinking mode, respects differences and pays particular attention to equality. At the same time, postmodernism also had a profound impact on the novel, which inspired the development of postmodernism fiction. John Fowles, as a contemporary writer, is a pioneering representative of British postmodernist novels and enjoys a high reputation in English literature and even in the world literary world. Among the six novels written by John Fowles, The French Lieutenant's Woman is the representative of his postmodern novels. This paper systematically expounds the definition of postmodernism,deeply analyzes postmodernism writing skills embodied in the French Lieutenant's woman, and then further summarizes the essential writing characteristics of postmodernist literature. The reason why this novel can become the most outstanding work of John Fowles is that it breaks through the limitations of the preceding novels. It opened up innovative writing techniques and distinctive plot arrangements and shapes characters with a distinctive personality. The different writing forms and story settings used in the novel reflect postmodernism, which makes it become a typical example of postmodern novel creation in England. The French Lieutenant's Woman also has three different open endings, which are dissimilar from the conventional novels. It subverts the internal structure and form of traditional novels. According to the language, content and the plot of story development embodied in The French Lieutenant's Woman, this paper analyzes the three fundamental features of postmodern novels, namely "metafiction", "uncertainty" and "intertextuality", so that readers can have a better understanding of postmodernism fiction. At the same time, this article also analyzes the author's original intention of creating the novel by combining the author's time, family and personal background. From the perspective of postmodernism, this paper analyzes the postmodern writing techniques used in The French Lieutenant's Woman and the postmodern features embodied in the novel to obtain a further understanding of the basic features of postmodernist literature. 

Key words: postmodernist literature; The French Lieutenant’s Woman; metafiction; uncertainty; intertextuality

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 The Definition of the Postmodernism 1

1.2 The Differences between Modernism and Postmodernism 2

1.3 The Definition of Postmodernist Literature 3

2 John Fowles and The French Lieutenant’s Woman 5

2.1 The personal background of John Fowles 5

2.2 The Introduction of The French Lieutenant’s Woman 6

3 Interpretation of the Basic Features of Postmodernist Literature from The French Lieutenant's Woman 8

3.1 Application of Metafiction 8

3.1.1 The Definition of the Metafiction 8

3.1.2 Pastiche 8

3.1.3 Anti-traditional narrative—The author's intrusion 10

3.2 Application of the Uncertainty Principle 11

3.2.1 The uncertainty of the characters 11

3.2.2 The uncertainty of the endings 13

3.3 Application of Intertextuality 14

3.3.1 The Definition of Intertextuality 14

3.3.2 Intertextuality used in The French Lieutenant’s Woman 14

4 Basic Features of Postmodernist Literature 17

5 Conclusion 19

References 20

Acknowledgements 21

A Brief Analysis of the Characteristics of the Postmodernist Literature—Take John Fowles's The French Lieutenant's Woman for Example

1 Introduction

1.1 The Definition of the Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a term that has one broad range of developments in philosophy, film, architecture, art, literature, and culture. In the beginning, it means a reaction to modernism, referring to the lack of artistic, intellectual, or cultural thought or organizing principle. Although the term postmodernism originates from modernism to some extent, it transcends modernism. In the beginning, the term postmodernism mainly referred to as people's response to modernism. It mainly concerns those activities that lack artistic, intellectual, or cultural ideas and organizational principles. The term postmodernism originated in the 1940s, the time when the second world war ended, but the precise date cannot be verified. Postmodernism peaked in the 1960s and 1970s with the release of Heller's black ridiculous novel The Catch 22. Nowadays, we all are aware of the fact that the term postmodernism has a vast range. It includes not only literature, art, but also concludes things like music, architecture, and philosophy.

The term postmodernism also used to involve developments, changes and other tendencies that have happened in music, literature, philosophy, art and architecture. It is also linked with various writing techniques, such as the experimental and fictional techniques used in the novel. Another aspect of postmodernism is the gradual exploration of the relationship between real and virtual. Postmodernist literary theories do not acknowledge the existence of ultimate principles. Unlike modernism, postmodernism lacks the optimistic spirit of scientific, philosophical, or religious truth. Modernism holds the view that the ultimate principle can explain all the unknowns, and this is precisely one of its distinctive features. However, the contradiction of postmodernism's denial of the ultimate principle is that when it views all things with a sceptical attitude, it also needs to realize that not only other principles are untrustworthy, but also postmodernism should treat its principles with a sceptical attitude.

The term postmodernism mainly refers to the literature and art produced after the Second World War (1939-1945). At the time, owing to Nazi totalitarianism and mass extinction activities, overpopulation, the destruction of the human living environment and the deadly threats caused by the atomic bomb explosion, all of these changes exacerbated the impact of the first World War on Western morale. Therefore, in a way, postmodernism can be regarded as both a continuation and variant of modernism.