This article explores hitherto unexplored complexities in the positioning of the Modernist narrator. Taking as a starting point Banfield’s ‘empty centre’ technique, the article re-evaluates the difficulties posed by this phenomenon and develops a more thorough and a sounder understanding of ‘the empty centre’. Some of the evidence for a new theory of ‘empty centre’ passages comes from pragmatics and naturally occurring discourse data. In particular, an investigation of the impersonal uses of generic pronouns, which Monika Fludernik (1993. The fictions of language and the languages of fiction: The linguistic representation of speech and consciousness . London: Routledge; 1996. Towards a natural narratology . London: Routledge) had established as key to our understanding of the technique, sheds new light on the nature of the ‘empty centre’ technique and leads to a new understanding of the status of the Modernist narrator. I propose that it is most plausible that the reader will naturalise examples of ‘the empty centre’ as stemming from the narrator. I also argue that we need to construct a new understanding of the status of the Modernist narrator which takes into account some of the central tenets of the Modernist aesthetic, those concerning subjectivity and the possibility of objectivity. Thus, what emerges from the analysis is that the self, and the narratorial figure by extension, can no longer be endowed with the power of omniscience. I will develop my theoretical explanation of ‘the empty centre’ and the positioning of the narrator in Modernist fiction with reference to a variety of examples, mainly drawn from Katherine Mansfield and Virginia Woolf.

中文翻译：

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叙述者在现代派小说中的地位

本文探讨了现代主义叙述者定位中迄今未曾探索的复杂性。本文以班菲尔德（Banfield）的“空中心”技术为起点，重新评估了这种现象带来的困难，并对“空中心”有了更彻底，更合理的理解。一种新的“空中心”段落理论的证据来自语用学和自然发生的话语数据。特别是对通用代词的非个人使用的调查，Monika Fludernik（1993.语言小说和小说语言：语言和意识的语言表示。伦敦：Routledge； 1996。走向自然叙事学。伦敦： Routledge）已确立为我们对该技术的理解的关键，揭示了“空中心”技术的性质，并为现代主义叙事者的地位带来了新的认识。我认为，最有可能的是，读者会自然而然地从叙述者那里得到“空虚的中心”的例子。我还认为，我们需要对现代主义叙述者的地位进行新的理解，其中要考虑到现代主义美学的一些中心原则，那些与主观性和客观性有关的原则。因此，从分析中得出的结果是，自我和扩展的叙事人物不再具有全知的力量。我将通过各种示例，对“空的中心”和叙述者在现代派小说中的定位进行理论解释，