THE RESEARCH OF NARRATIVE STRUCTURES IN M. DRABBLE'S NOVELS AT ENGLISH LITERATURE CLASSES

 

Anastasia Blagoveshchenskaya¹*, Irina Ainoutdinova², Elena Dmitrieva³

¹Assoc. Prof., Kazan Federal University, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, ablagov2008@mail.ru

²Prof. Dr., Kazan Federal University, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, iainoutd@mail.ru

³Assoc. Prof., Kazan State Power Engineering University, RUSSIAN FEDERATION, elenadmitrieva75@yandex.ru

*Corresponding author

 

Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the research of narrative structures in the work of a well-known English writer Margaret Drabble at English literature classes at university. The relevance of the investigated problem is caused by the change in traditional narrative forms in contemporary literature, where the author's subjective narrative incorporates the characters’ points of view. The main goal of the article is to consider the peculiarities of narrative structures of M. Drabble’s novels on the example of her novels “A summer-bird cage”, “Jerusalem the Golden”, “The Waterfall” and “The Realms of Gold”, as well as to show the process of conducting a literary analysis of a novel in the course of classes with philology students.

To realize these goals, a thorough textual study of M. Drabble's novels has been conducted based on the comparative historical method of analysis. The former and current literary processes in Britain were taken into account, provided that a theoretical approach was combined with the literary-historical and literary-critical outlook on the issue. The provided analysis reveals a gradual complication of narrative structures from a linear first-person narrative in early Drabble’s novels, in which the points of view of the author and the narrator almost coincide, to a story that combines the voices of the omniscient narrator and the protagonist, the narrator and other characters in her late novels.

The proposed methods and techniques of analysis of narrative structures in literary texts can be used by scholars, educators and teachers in both scientific and practical contexts. For teaching and learning purposes, our findings can be integrated into the university curriculum for the effective instruction design of classes and seminars on M. Drabble's and other English writers’ works, contemporary English literature and stylistic analysis courses.

Keywords: literary studies, English literature, narrative structures, M. Drabble, novels, university, students.