Fragmentation and Isolation—On the Narrative Analysis of Joan Didion’s On Going Home

Journal: Region - Educational Research and Reviews DOI: 10.32629/rerr.v2i4.221

Yuanyuan Wang1, Haonong Pang2

1. 1. Center for Foreign Literature and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies 2. School of Foreign Studies, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, Jiangsu, China
2. Center for Foreign Literature and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies

Abstract

In On Going Home, Joan Didion demonstrates her deep concern and melancholy towards the 1960s’ American society and describes a fragmented and isolated mental landscape of that time. She skillfully employs the narrative skills which include the collage, the foregrounding language, the confusion of tenses and repetition. In this way, the theme hidden in the essay is portrayed and resonate with the contemporary readers.

Keywords

On Going Home; fragmentation and isolation; narrative skills

References

[1] Didion J. (1968). On Going Home. Slouching Towards Bethlehem. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York.
[2] Mukarovsky J. (1964). Standard Language and Poetic Language. Georgetown University Press, Washington D. C.
[3] Loris M. (1989). Innocence, Loss and Recovery in the Art of Joan Didion. Peter Lang Publishing, New York.
[4] Mark Z.M. (1987). The Poetics of Joan Didion’s Journalism. American Literature, 59(3): 402-421.
[5] Shen D. (2001). The Research on Narratology and Literary Stylistics. Peking University, Beijing.

Copyright © 2020 Yuanyuan Wang, Haonong Pang

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