| dc.description.abstract | 《La Modification》was completed in 1957 by Michel Butor. It was awarded the Renaudot (French Literary Prizes), and was considered the representative of the author.
This paper analyzed the novel through narratology (la narratologie). In the first section, we analyzed the voice (la voix), mode (le mode) and temps (la temporalité). In conventional novels, it was used to narrate in the first or third person, however Butor chose to used the second person narration (la deuxième personne du pluriel) of “vous” to string up the whole context, as the readers read, they would easily plunge into the scenario of the narration (la narration) step by step. Sometimes, “vous”encourages yourself like a teacher, and some other times, “vous” strictly criticize yourself. In the train traveling over 21 hours, the leading role Léon Delmont observed the people and events around himself with his projected imagination, continuously thinking of his past, present and the future with interior monologue (monologue intérieur). It alternately adopted analepses and prolepses in the context, and the consciousness of the leading role kept changing among happiness, disturbing, helpless and resolution in the alternating time and space (le cadre spatio-temporel), to have a totally reflection of his current state, and finally achieve self-redemption by writing. Though he still has to confront the obstacles and challenges of life in the future, however the emotion was sublimiled, relieved and freed. The leading role seems suggested the process was the creative origin of this novel. In addition, it used simultaneous tense (la simultanée) all the time, and made the readers feel like staying in the same time and space with the roles. The author made the distance between readers and roles short.
In the second part, this paper discussed the role of the story: The leading role is a 45 years old, normal middle-aged male living in Paris, who has a stable job of selling typewriter, leads a well-off life. However, hidden behind the current state was a real environment making him choked: moving toward middle age, being inferior on vigor and appearance, and getting into trouble on family relationship and love life. His world moved toward disorder, and he decided to start a journey at the moment of choice. In heading to the destination, he learned to clarify the truth and fake projections, and at the moment of emerging truth, he found out a power sufficient to support him moving on in life through struggles. In the book, the mental world of the leading role is depicted vividly and in very detail, which is worth discussing.
In the last part of this paper, the le schéma quinaire by Paul Larivaille was adopted to analyze the linear progress of the story. Besides, the symbol structure (le carré sémiotique) by A. J. Greimas was used to analyze the composite elements in narration : Youth- Senescence (être jeune- être vieux), Reality-Dream (réalité-rêve), love-hateness (amour-haine) and here-there (ici-ailleurs) to conclude this paper.
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