The Investigation of Frequency in Amy Tan's The Bonesetter's Daughter in the Light of Genette's Narrative Theory

According to Gérard Genette's narrative theory, frequency is a technique used in avant-garde novels that involves narrating events that occur repeatedly. Frequent thoughts and actions have an enormous impression on the characters that assist them in reaching their goal. It helps a reader to apprehend the particular situation of the characters. Additionally, Mieke Bal identified frequency as different events or alternative presentations of events that show similarities. In The Bonesetter's Daughter, the third-person narrator has informed that Ruth, the granddaughter desires to write her biography. She learns writing from her mother, Lu Ling, and Lu Ling has learned it from her mother, Precious Auntie. Thus, biography writing is the frequency transferred from the grandmother to the mother and then to the daughter. Inside this frequency, other frequencies exist that make the general form of fiction. The present research aims to express the significance of these frequencies that help the characters to understand their situations. She also attempts to investigate the plot of the fiction to answer why frequency is significant in light of Genette's and Mieke Bal's narrative theory.
Introduction:
Most critics believe that novels originated in the eighteenth century due to the social changes occurring worldwide. Modern novelists have discarded conventional forms to reflect the imaginative conditions of the past. They choose problematic social or personal subject matter. These productive representational genres attract many people after their emergence. They serve a reportorial function, conveying human values, thoughts, and actions. In 2001, Amy Tan wrote her fourth novel, "The Bonesetter's Daughter". This is the story of a Chinese mother and her American-born daughter. All the events in Amy Tan's novel are based on her own life, her mother's life, and her memories. Her mother's recollections of Chinese and American cultures are juxtaposed. Amy Tan emerges from a complex social, historical, and cultural background. Her mother immigrated to America after the Chinese revolution. Living in America and learning American culture do not diminish her connection to her mother's memory and the Chinese culture that deeply influences her writings. Subsequently, Chinese and American cultures blended in her novels. This study aims to guide the reader beyond thematic concerns to explore the aesthetic characteristics and rhetorical strategies within the social and historical contexts of her writings. Her novels depict unique situations that are rhetorically powerful, reflecting literary texts narrated from a dreamlike memory. Therefore, the dream is a powerful force that connects the human conscious and unconscious mind. However, the character's consciousness engages with the actions and thoughts of other characters and situations.
Methodology:
Narratology originated from the structural and linguistic analysis of narrative elements. Gérard Genette's narratology focuses on the forms of novels. He is considered a postclassical narratologist because he views narrative discourse as the foundation of his narratological approach. He focuses on the grammar of fiction to help literature clarify the function of characters or narrators, emphasizing that signification is inseparable from verbal form. He argues that form determines meaning. A plot is the discourse of a story, and narrative discourse is central to the study of narrative. In narratology, a narrative pertains to the act of narrating—how it is narrated and for what purpose. Genette's theory comprises three components: tense, mood, and voice. Tense is divided into three aspects: order, duration, and frequency. In terms of frequency, time is a significant dimension. According to an essay in the Journal of Research in Narrative Literature, by using the element of time, the writer establishes a causal connection between primary and secondary events, thereby organizing all actions. The grammar of every text is important for indicating repetitions. In a narrative, there may be identical days or events; however, their repetitions create abstractions. Thus, some actions occur more than once but in different ways and situations. The researcher examines the plot of the fiction to explore why frequency is significant, drawing on the narrative theories of Genette and Mieke Bal.
Results and Discussion:
Amy Tan provides a vivid portrayal of a mother and daughter, both striving to improve their relationship. She attempts to tell the story from her mother's perspective. Similarly, she creates Ruth as a ghostwriter. Due to their miscommunications, Ruth revisits the past to uncover the root of their tensions. She reads her mother's autobiography and learns about her grandmother's circumstances. The novel has two speakers; the first part's speaker speaks in the third-person narrator, who speaks about Ruth and her life in America and how much it is frustrating. The second part's speaker is in the first-person, who talks about Lu Ling and her mother's life, Precious Auntie, in China. The narrator narrates Ruth's condition, who has lost her voice for ninth time on August twelfth. Ruth has lost her voice because she has her grandmother's history in her mind and lives with them. She has read her mother's biography which has her grandmother's story inside that her grandmother lost her voice on August twelfth. This action was so potential that her mother, Lu Ling, has injected it into Ruth's mind. Ruth endeavors to please her mother and to respect her grandmother. Writing autobiography is the repetition of three generations that creates a high sense of satisfaction. The repetition of some events helps them to understand each other deeply. Writing is the most significant frequent practice in these three generations. Therefore, the act of writing biography creates a better communication. The grandmother has written her historical biography to lessen her hesitation. Lu Ling has written hers to transfer the message of her mother's importance and to mention her mistakes. Ruth repeats this tradition with a difference that she wants to prove herself as a higher level writer. Ruth follows her mother and grandmother, but the nature of writing is more important because it conveys experiences to the reader through reading the text. This kind of narrative is an individual narrative that is repeated frequently. Ruth's writing comes from her thought, it happens once then is repeated sometimes.
Conclusion:
According to Genette's narratology, frequency is a key aspect of narrative temporality. The grammar of each text is important for indicating repetitions. In this story, adverbs and adverbial phrases play a crucial role in maintaining coherence within the sentences. It is a mental construct that removes from each occurrence all elements unique to it. Writing an autobiography serves as a means of communication; it reduces the character's anxiety and fosters abstraction. These characters exist in a transitional state, where the daughter strives not to repeat the mother's mistakes. The grandmother committed suicide, the mother develops Alzheimer's disease, and Ruth, the daughter, deeply comprehends the situation by reading their autobiography. Frequency refers to the continuity of action within the diegetic world and operates through other aspects of the story, namely order and duration. Repetition is a linguistic device that highlights events and their various roles. It serves as a significant element in this story, which simulates real life. Additionally, the reader experiences the story through the narrator's perspective, where the author has carefully arranged the events. In accordance with this approach, the narrator creates the primary simulative structures within the reader's mind.