A Study of Narrative Strategies in Country Driving

Abstract

Peter Hessler, a contemporary American writer, created the “China Trilogy” through non-fiction writing based on “personal records and observations”, shaping the image of China in the eyes of contemporary foreigners. His writings describing China are favored by numerous readers. Country Driving, the final work of Hessler’s “China Trilogy”, recounts his experience of driving around the Chinese mainland. Abandoning flat plot narrative, the book reveals China’s changes and development and showcases its social landscape through multi-dimensional narrative perspectives, diverse rhetorical devices, and rich language. Based on a close reading of the text, this thesis utilizes Genette’s narrative focalization theory, Shklovsky’s defamiliarization theory, and Critchley’s humorization theory as the main interpretive tools. It mainly explores the application of narrative focalization, rhetorical devices, defamiliarization, and humor in the text, interpreting the specific manifestations of its narrative techniques. Hessler’s utilization of diverse narrative strategies enhances the literary and historical nature of the text, inspiring readers to gain a deeper understanding of contemporary China.