Orwell＇s text The Road to Wigan Pier, henceforth referred to as RWP, is problematic due to the ambiguity of its status as a literary genre. The text is subversive on many levels, namely on the level of form. In order...Orwell＇s text The Road to Wigan Pier, henceforth referred to as RWP, is problematic due to the ambiguity of its status as a literary genre. The text is subversive on many levels, namely on the level of form. In order to show some aspects of the author＇s challenge of the conventional norms and methods of literary writing, a comparison between the writer＇s original diary of the journey to the industrial North of England, the main site of the coal mines, and the present book could be of great import. This reveals the author＇s genuine intellectual ability to manipulate and rearrange the events and scenes of the story on the discourse level. The author＇s manipulation and rearrangement of the story （the journey）, events and scenes, clearly reveals his potential literary creativity and imagination. Orwell has deployed many strategies to fulfil this purpose. Each strategy is actually a contribution to the author＇s overall argument and at the same time it constitutes a further aspect of subversion. The first aspect of subversion lies on the level of form itself. The form of the book is effectively very challenging. Contrary to the conventional view of the fictional novel, the study of Orwell＇s text based on Grrard Genette＇s model reveals his challenge of the basic novelistic parameters. The novelistic ingredients such as setting, characterisation, and plot development have been treated in a subverting way. Though not totally discarded, they have been manipulated for the purpose of the author＇s general argument, which is Socialism. For instance, characters in the novel are treated as types, that is, representatives of their class. Besides, the order of scenes and events has been rearranged for the purpose of foregrounding representative scenes like the description of the Brookers＇ lodging-house. The author＇s treatment of the material of the text is primarily based on his personal experience as an outside observer during his journey to the North. Therefore, the exploration of the novel from a structuralist perspective based on Genette＇s model does not merely aim at the pure application of some literary and critical approaches to Orwell＇s text. This may be misleading since the investigation may fall in superficiality and simplicity. But the strategy deployed is actually a further contribution to the author＇s general argument and a manifestation of the novel＇s status as a creative and subversive text.展开更多
文摘Orwell＇s text The Road to Wigan Pier, henceforth referred to as RWP, is problematic due to the ambiguity of its status as a literary genre. The text is subversive on many levels, namely on the level of form. In order to show some aspects of the author＇s challenge of the conventional norms and methods of literary writing, a comparison between the writer＇s original diary of the journey to the industrial North of England, the main site of the coal mines, and the present book could be of great import. This reveals the author＇s genuine intellectual ability to manipulate and rearrange the events and scenes of the story on the discourse level. The author＇s manipulation and rearrangement of the story （the journey）, events and scenes, clearly reveals his potential literary creativity and imagination. Orwell has deployed many strategies to fulfil this purpose. Each strategy is actually a contribution to the author＇s overall argument and at the same time it constitutes a further aspect of subversion. The first aspect of subversion lies on the level of form itself. The form of the book is effectively very challenging. Contrary to the conventional view of the fictional novel, the study of Orwell＇s text based on Grrard Genette＇s model reveals his challenge of the basic novelistic parameters. The novelistic ingredients such as setting, characterisation, and plot development have been treated in a subverting way. Though not totally discarded, they have been manipulated for the purpose of the author＇s general argument, which is Socialism. For instance, characters in the novel are treated as types, that is, representatives of their class. Besides, the order of scenes and events has been rearranged for the purpose of foregrounding representative scenes like the description of the Brookers＇ lodging-house. The author＇s treatment of the material of the text is primarily based on his personal experience as an outside observer during his journey to the North. Therefore, the exploration of the novel from a structuralist perspective based on Genette＇s model does not merely aim at the pure application of some literary and critical approaches to Orwell＇s text. This may be misleading since the investigation may fall in superficiality and simplicity. But the strategy deployed is actually a further contribution to the author＇s general argument and a manifestation of the novel＇s status as a creative and subversive text.
