Composition of Modern English Novels

何君 王衛平

【Abstract】Conversation is one of the most commonly used languages in novels. We can know about the fictional world through the characters direct speech because communication between fictional characters is the device used by the author to communicate with his readers. This paper aims at studying the features of Conversation in Modern English Novels.

【Key words】conversation； composition； Modern English Novels

Fiction is the kind of imaginative literature many people are most familiar with； it is a generic term and includes short stories， novellas and novels. I will be focusing mainly on novels written in late 80s of the 20th century.

From the point of view of linguistics， the language in novels is also a discourse. The narrative discourse provides a ‘window on reality. It presents the world of the text to the reader as if it were part of exterior reality. So the narrator can present the character.

Generally speaking， “the narrator” in a novel can take the first person or third person. The first person： I saw… I did… The “I” in the story is a character that the author has created to tell the story. This character is known as the narrator or storyteller.

Unlike first person narrator， third person narrator does not take part in the story. The narrator refers to the characters either by name or in the third person， e.g. he felt… they did….Third person narrators are very powerful and can be divided into the omniscient narrator， the limited narrator and the impersonal narrator.

The following is an extract from a novel written by means of the first person：

I knew as I watched Harry mindlessly burrowing into the sports section of the News that the moment had come to make a break for freedom. I had to say “Good-bye” ……. Suddenly I pushed back my chair， choked out a rather faint “So long， Harry” through a last mouthful of toast……

“I” herein is a character in the novel named Alice， Harry， was unable to maintain their marital life and， after a breakfast， announced to live apart on her own.

If the above description about Alice and Harry was given by means of “the omniscient narrator”， the words would be completely different：

Sometimes an apparently insignificant moment brings to a head all of those unresolved problems we face in our daily lives. Such was the case with Harry and Alice that morning as they sat at breakfast over their coffee and toast. They seemed perfectly matched， but in reality， they merely maintained marital harmony by avoiding bringing up anything unpleasant.

“The omniscient narrator” herein started the description with a philosophic comment and introduced the characters Harry and Alice. The narrator is the “spokesman” of the writer， instead of a character in the novel. He takes the status of “knowing everything”， not being limited by the time and location of the scenario in the novel.

The narration is totally different by means of the limited omniscient narrator：

Harry glanced quickly at the Cubs score in the News only to be disappointed by another loss. “Now where is that woman，” he thought， as he trudged over， annoyed， to open the door. But the emptiness had already entered， drifting by him unnoticed， into the furthest reaches of the house.

As the point of view in such a description or depiction was based on one character， it has a certain limitation.

The following is by means of the impersonal narrator：

A man and a woman sat at opposite sides of a chrome and vinyl dinette table. Suddenly， the woman pushed back her chair， “so long， Harry.” She walked quickly to the suitcase， picked it up. ……

It can be seen from the above analysis that persons and the point of view in description or depiction have direct influence on the selection of elements of the language.

Conversations in novels can be further divided into monologue and conversation. Seeking for personalization of speeches for characters is the notable characteristics of the language in novels. The so-called personalization of speeches for characters means to let a character express his / her thought， experience and personality through his / her own speeches. The language is through the conversations between characters that readers know better about different characters in a novel.

In Richard Ohmanns opinion， a literary work creates a ‘world （1971）. This includes the imagined physical and social world which the quasi-descriptions refer to and within which the imagined characters act. When characters speak to one another， their utterances create the fictional world for readers. We can know about the fictional world through a characters direct speech. Therefore， the conversation in English novels obviously reflects the nature of the fictional conversation characteristics.

References：

[1]Abercrombie，David，Conversation and spoken prose，London， OUP，1965.

[2]Burbules，N.，Dialogue in Teaching Theory and Practice，New York，1993.