A Framework for Deconstructive Narrative Ethics in Contemporary English Fiction

Thesis Abstract

This study investigates how deconstructive ethics can be operationalized within contemporary English fiction to illuminate the relational and moral implications of narrative choices. The problem addressed is the persistent gap between formal deconstructionist theory and its practical application to readers’ ethical interpretation of plot, character, and narrative voice in post-1990 prose. The aim is to develop a transferable analytical framework that integrates deconstructive theory with ethical situatedness to assess how narratives redistribute power, responsibility, and moral ambiguity. Specific objectives are (1) to articulate a coherent framework that synthesizes Jacques Derrida’s deconstruction, Emmanuel Levinas’s ethical responsibility, and Judith Butler’s performativity to evaluate ethical reading practices; (2) to analyze a corpus of 40 contemporary English novels across three sub-genres (domestic realism, speculative fiction, and literary metafiction) published between 2000 and 2020; (3) to identify recurring narrative strategies—such as dubious epistemologies, unreliable narration, and metafictional self-reflexivity—that mediate ethical interpretation; (4) to assess how readers’ ethical judgments are shaped by textual cues using triangulated data sources; and (5) to propose a validated framework for assessing narrative ethics in future studies. The methodology adopts a mixed-methods design anchored in textual analysis and reader-response inquiry. The population comprises contemporary English fiction authors and readers within the specified period. A purposive sample of 40 novels will be selected to ensure representation across sub-genres and cultural contexts, with 20 novels chosen for in-depth close-reading analysis and 20 for narrative coding. Data collection will involve (a) close-textual analysis guided by deconstructive and ethical theory to identify moments of ethical negotiation, (b) semi-structured reader interviews with 60 participants (30 trained in literary studies and 30 general readers) to capture interpretive variance, and (c) survey instruments capturing readers’ moral judgments using a 7-point Likert scale on ethical dilemmas presented in sampled passages. The study will apply thematic analysis to interview transcripts, discourse analysis to narrative segments, and regression analysis to examine relationships between textual features (e.g., unreliability, intertextuality, narrative focalization) and readers’ ethical judgments. Analytical models will include a coding frame derived from Derridean deconstruction, Levinasian responsibility, and Butlerian performativity, integrated into a composite Narrative Ethics Framework (NEF). Validity will be pursued through investigator triangulation, inter-coder reliability (Cohen’s kappa target >0.75), and pilot testing of interview protocols. Reliability will be enhanced via standardized coding manuals and audit trails. Data synthesis will compare textual findings with reader-response data to determine the degree of alignment or dissonance between authorial intent, textual strategies, and reader ethics. Expected findings anticipate that certain deconstructive strategies—namely, persistent epistolary and metafictional interruptions, deliberate epistemic instability, and the masking of authorial stances—correlate with heightened ethical reflexivity among readers, particularly when protagonists confront moral uncertainty without closure. It is expected that novels employing explicit ethical reframing through narrative duplicity will elicit more nuanced reader judgments, revealing a robust interaction between textual design and ethical interpretation. The study also aims to demonstrate that the NEF can reliably classify passages into ethical modalities (responsibility-affirming, responsibility-challenging, and ambivalent) and predict reader outcomes with a multiple regression model explaining a substantial portion of variance (R2 > .40) in ethical judgments. This research contributes to knowledge by operationalizing deconstructive ethics into a practical framework for literary analysis, offering a transferable methodological approach for evaluating ethics in narrative discourse, and mapping how contemporary fiction reshapes moral perception. The findings will inform scholarly debates on the function of narrative authority, reader agency, and the politics of interpretation in English fiction. Recommendations include adopting the Narrative Ethics Framework in graduate pedagogy to cultivate readerly sensitivity to ethical issues, extending the corpus to non-English contexts to test cross-cultural validity, and applying the framework to film and digital narrative forms to explore modality-specific ethics. The study concludes that deconstructive narrative ethics provides a robust lens for understanding how contemporary English fiction negotiates moral responsibility, urging readers and scholars to attend to destabilizations of meaning as ethically consequential rather than merely aesthetically provocative.