Abstract:

Atonement, a novel written by Ian McEwan, conveys rich ethical connotations of the Other because of its exploration of the relationship between the Self and the Other. Such an ethical affect not only springs from his ingenious plot but also from his exploration of an innovative pattern of narrative discourse that combines embedded narration, shift of points of view, and unreliable narration to disclose implication of alterity ethics as well as the relation between the ethical expression of author, narrator, and reader and style of the narrative. The author of this paper examines the function of these three narrative techniques in strengthening the expression of alterity ethics and explores how McEwan guides readers to reflect on their ethical consciousness through alterity ethics at the narrative level. With this research, the author suggests that McEwan employs the narrative forms with profound ethical connotations that, together with the content of the novel, strengthen the expression of alterity ethics in the novel. Exploring the roles played by the narrative forms in expressing alterity ethics in Atonement may fully uncover its ethical connotations as well as garner attention to the ethical dimensions of narrative arts in McEwan’s novels.

Keywords: Atonement; alterity ethics; embedded structure; shift of point of view; unreliable narration

摘要：

伊恩•麦克尤恩的《赎罪》因其对自我和他者关系的探索而传达了丰富的他者伦理内涵。这一伦理效果不仅源于他对小说故事情节的精心构思,更源于其在小说叙述形式上的探索。在叙述形式层面,麦克尤恩将元小说嵌套叙述、视角转换和不可靠叙述相结合,探索出一套独特的伦理叙述话语,揭示了作品的他者伦理意蕴,展示了作者、叙述者和读者的伦理意识表达与叙述呈现之间的关系。本文将着重聚焦这三种叙述形式在强化《赎罪》中的他者伦理表达方面的作用,探讨作者麦克尤恩如何通过叙述形式层面的他者伦理内涵引导读者进行自我伦理意识的反思。分析发现,麦克尤恩在《赎罪》中采用的叙述形式具有丰富的伦理内涵,这一叙述形式与小说内容共同强化了小说中的他者伦理意蕴。探究《赎罪》中叙述形式在伦理表达方面的效果能够充分挖掘该小说的伦理内涵,也有助于引起学界对麦克尤恩小说中叙述伦理的关注。

关键词: 赎罪, 他者伦理, 嵌套结构, 视角转换, 不可靠叙述