A Comparative Study on the Theories of Unreliable Narrator by Booth and Phelan

【Abstract】Unreliable narrator is a significant and widely-accepted term in narratology which is about the analysis of narratives and more specifically of forms of narration and varieties of narrator. This thesis will comb the theories of unreliable narrator by Booth and Phelan.

【Key Words】unreliable narrator; narratology; Booth

【作者簡介】常海鸽（1982.07-），西安外事学院，讲师，硕士研究生，研究方向：英美文学。

The professional term of unreliable narrator was firstly proposed and defined by Wayne C. Booth in his well-known book The Rhetoric of Fiction published in 1961 and then gradually became a key concept in narratological investigations. Basically， the researches of unreliable narrator can be divided into two groups： rhetorical approach and cognitive approach. This paper will focus on the theories of Wayne C. Booth and James Phelan， who treat unreliability as a textual property encoded by the implied author for the implied reader to decode and propose rhetorical approach.

Ⅰ.Booths Theory of Unreliable Narrator

As for the establishment and development of the theory of unreliable narrator， Wayne C. Booth definitely is the first one being well worth reading. Wayne C. Booth， an important literary critic of “Chicago School”， is a pioneer of the theory of unreliable narrator. He firstly coined the theoretical term of “unreliable narrator” in his well-known book The Rhetoric of Fiction published in 1961. In the book， he not only defined the reliability and unreliability of a narrator but also gave a systematic analysis of it.

Booth argued that the first standard can be used to measure the reliability of narration is norms which refer to any criteria of the authors ethics， creed， emotion， value and taste， or aesthetics set in the text implicitly. The second is implied author which is different from real author and is real authors second self; it has nothing to do with the authors life experience but to some extent carries the moral sense， value perception and ideal judgment of the real author; it does not exist in the real world but only in the fictitious world of the novel; it has the authoritative power over the characters and narrator in a novel; it controls the direction of the story unfolded in a novel. The real author sets the implied author according to the needs of particular works. For different works， the author will set a different implied author so as to serve for his writing purpose. Furthermore， Booth also finds that the narrator is different from the implied author， the characters in the story and the readers norm， and it is the distance which separates him or her from the implied author， characters and the readers norm that just determines his or her unreliability. And he says this unreliability always occurs in the narration of the first-person narrator. That is to say， all his analysis of the unreliability of narrator is actually the analysis of the unreliability of “I” as a narrator in a fiction.

To sum up， in Booths viewpoint， if the narrator holds the same norms with the implied author when recounting the story， he or she is reliable; if the narrator betrays the norms of the implied author somewhat， then he is unreliable.

Ⅱ.Phelans Theory of Unreliable Narrator

James Phelan， as the student and friend of Wayne C. Booth， is one of the most brilliant narratologists in America. Phelan was born in New York in 1951 and received his Ph. D. from University of Chicago under Sheldon Sacks who is one of the representative theorists of “Chicago School”. Phelan， on one hand， successively follows Booths direction of rhetorical approach， on the other hand， refines and develops Booths theory of unreliable narrator.

First of all， Phelan retains the concept of the implied author introduced by Booth. In his Living to Tell About It： A Rhetoric and Ethics of Character Narration， he says the implied author is constructed by the real author as a partial representation of himself or herself and it is not a product of the text but rather the agent responsible for bringing the text into existence， thus it is the source of unreliable narration. Phelans definition allows for an effective way of talking about works in which a real author takes on values， beliefs， attitudes or even features of identity that he or she doesnt actually espouse or possess. Furthermore， his conception of the implied author also leaves room for authorial intention as an important component of interpretation and definitely points out the source of unreliable narration， but it does not make authorial intention either the sole or the dominant determiner of a texts meaning.

Secondly， Phelan broadens Booths distinction of unreliability. In Narrative as Rhetoric： Technique， Audiences， Ethics， Ideology， Phelan points out that Booths distinction leads the readers to two important habits， the first of which is that “the distinction is seen as most often relevant to homodiegetic narration”.（110） and the second of which is that the distinction “assumes an equivalence， or perhaps better， a continuity between narrator and character， and so critics took at the character function to shed light on the narrator function and vice versa”. （111） Phelan reckons the two habits absolute in that once readers have evidence of some unreliability， it is possible to argue for unreliability. Furthermore， Phelan distinguishes the function of “I” as both a character and narrator in a narrative. He proposes that the assumption of continuity between character and narrator may not always be warranted and makes the argument that the narration will be reliable and authoritative when the narratorial functions are operating independently of the character functions， and may be either reliable or unreliable when the character and narratorial functions are operating interdependently.

Another contribution made by Phelan is that he attaches importance on dynamic narrative progression. In Narrative as Rhetoric： Technique， Audiences， Ethics， Ideology， Phelan illustrates narrative progression and believes that the unreliability of narrator in a narrative is not unchangeable from the beginning to the end; the degree of his unreliability differs with the dynamic narrative unreliability because of the “unstable relationships between or within characters and their circumstance” （30）.

Ⅲ.Conclusion

In a word， Booth founded the theory of unreliable narrator and Phelan successively inherits， refines and develops Booths theory. They both offer us a rhetoric approach in literature analysis. Generally， Booth thinks unreliability of narrator is related to the “literal truth” or the evaluation of values. Phelan develops the theory and believes that the unreliability of narrator is changeable from the beginning to the end and the degree of the unreliability differs with the fluctuation of the relationships among characters.

References：

[1]Booth， Wayne C.， The Rhetoric of Fiction （2nd Edition）. Chicago： The University of Chicago Press， 1983.

[2]Phelan， James & P. J. Rabinowitz （eds）. A Companion to Narrative Theory. Oxford： Blackwell， 2005. 89–107.

[3]Phelan， James. Narrative as Rhetoric： Technique， Audiences， Ethics， Ideology. https：//ohiostatepress.org.