Abstract
Throughout her life, Eileen Chang has used the third-person narrative that limited the viewpoint of the protagonists; however, this narrative method underwent different changes during different stages of Chang's life. In her early works, the perspective of the protagonist was depicted by the omniscient narrator and some settings were described through the perspective of the protagonist as well as the narrator. This type of intentional confusion created by the narrative method was an important technical feature in Eileen Chang's novels. In The Rice Sprout Song, Chang still remained insistent on using the third-person narrative that limited the characters' viewpoint. What was different, however, was the inclusion of multiple subjective perspectives from various characters that live in social conflicts as opposed to having one or two male and female protagonists, which in combination created a seemingly realistic effect. As for the representative novel of her later works, Little Reunion, Chang abandoned other narrative viewpoints and only used the perspective of the female protagonist from start to finish. In the novel, there were still some changes or even "confusion" of the narrative viewpoint, which was caused by the protagonist's various perspective in different time.
First Page
77
Last Page
90
Recommended Citation
Xu, Zidong. 2018. "The Intentional Confusion of Narrative Viewpoint in Eileen Chang's Novels." Theoretical Studies in Literature and Art 38, (5): pp.77-90. https://tsla.researchcommons.org/journal/vol38/iss5/18
