Author(s): Wang Wei, Ma Chaofan

Abstract: In traditional literary texts, female characters are often constructed as emotional objects, long relegated to the margins of discursive power and even deprived of the possibility of self-expression. However, Elizabeth Strout, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner, in her novel Tell Me Everything, employs a series of intricate narrative strategies that not only break with this deeply ingrained literary convention but also endow women with the right to speak and discursive subjectivity. Through the orchestration of authorial narrative voice, the use of narrative gaps created by un-narrated events, and unconventional character portrayals, Strout constructs a narrative space where men and women engage in equal dialogue and coexist harmoniously. This paper attempts to analyze Strout’s narrative techniques in this work from the theoretical perspective of feminist narratology, exploring how she conveys a profound feminine consciousness through formal innovation, and thereby revealing the reconstruction and reflection on gender order embedded within the text.

Keywords: feminist narratology, narrative techniques, authorial narrative voice, un-narrated events, Elizabeth Strout

Article Info: Received: 10 Mar 2026; Received in revised form: 11 Apr 2026; Accepted: 13 Apr 2026; Available online: 17 Apr 2026

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.112.73