ABSTRACT

Julian Barnes is a most acclaimed British novelist best known for his daring experiment with common themes and techniques of postmodern fiction. His novels such as Flaubert’s Parrot, A History of the World in 10 ½ Chapters and England, England have challenged conventional ideas about language, genre, identity, truth and etc. In addition to these postmodern concerns, Julian Barnes has also demonstrated in almost all of his novels a continuous interest in the function of fictional narratives in exploring the issues of religion and personal identity in an age of constant transition in matters of science and technology. Much to the negligence of this significant aspect of Barnes’ novels, however, critical attention has been given almost exclusively to postmodern features of Barnes’ writings. Focusing on Julian Barnes’ The Levels of Life, this thesis examines the function of literary imagination in illuminating the relationship between science, religion and personal identity by drawing on Paul Ricoeur’s theory on narrative identity and David Kaplan’s understanding about Ricoeur’s philosophy of technology. A conclusion will be drawn that for Julian Barnes fictional narrative that fuses fact and imagination can serve as not only an important alternative to religious faith destroyed by advances in science and technology but also an important means for individuals caught in a crisis of existence to make sense of life and reconstruct personal identity. 

Keywords：Levels of Life; Narrative Identity; Science; Religion 

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABSTRACT

摘要

Chapter One INTRODUCTION-1

1.1 Julian Barnes’s Literary Concern-1

1.2 Literary Review-2

1.3 Structure of the Thesis-4

Chapter Two THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK-5

2.1 Narrative Identity-5

2.2 Narrative and Scientific Invention-6

Chapter Three SCIENCE AND ITS REPRESENTATION-7

3.1 Progress in Ballooning-7

3.1.1 Nadar-7

3.2 Narrative Understanding of the History of Ballooning-8

3.2.1 Mythology and Science-9

3.2.2 Science and Love Story-11

Chapter Four RELIGION AND WRITING-13

4.1 Death of God-13

4.2 Writing, an Alternative Faith-14

Chapter Five CONCLUSION-15

WORKS CITED-16