An Analysis Of Mariam’ Identity In A Thousand Splendid Suns From The Perspective Of Spatial Criticism

As the most outstanding Afghan-American writer in the 21 st century,Khaled Hosseini is internationally renowned for his meticulous depiction and affectionate writing of Afghan society.His works are unique in perspective,simple in language,novel in subject matter and far-reaching in enlightenment,which has aroused universal concern in academic circles of home and abroad.His representative work,A Thousand Splendid Suns,is set in Afghanistan from the early 1960 s to the early 21 st century.It tells a very touching story interweaving with family,friendship,faith and being rescued by love,in which two women at the bottom of Afghan society realized self-awakening and bravely resisted the oppression of patriarchal society.This thesis puts Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns from the perspective of spacial criticism,and takes the identity of the third world women as the starting point,which provides an original perspective of understanding Khaled Hosseini’s works and enriches the academic research of A Thousand Splendid Suns.This thesis mainly uses Lefebvre’s unitary theory and spatial triad in spacial criticism.Lefebvre’s spacial criticism breaks the binary opposition in traditional space theory.He thinks that space is a means of production,and the social relationship of production is a kind of spatial existence,which interacts with space.From the three dimensions of physical space,mental space and social space that Lefebvre emphasizes,the thesis discusses Mariam’s identity dilemma in the intricate spatial metaphor,and the challenge of reconstructing her self-identity after breaking the restraints of society and family.This thesis composes three parts: introduction,main body and conclusion.The introduction part introduces Hosseini and A Thousand Splendid Suns,summarizes the literature review both at home and abroad.Then it presents the theory of space and identity and clarifies the significance of my thesis.The main body of the thesis composes three chapters.Through careful reading of the text,the thesis mainly describes the heroine Mariam’s identity absence and identity crisis in the restricted physical space and social space,as well as the process of spiritual salvation and identity reconstruction in the mental space.The main body of the thesis is mainly divided into three parts.The first part discusses the lack of Mariam’s identity in the repressed physical space.As the illegitimate daughter of a large family,Mariam was kept in a hut in the country when she was young.As an adult,Mariam was forced to marry a middle-aged man Rasheed and imprisoned in a small attic.The oppressive physical space records the shackles of power-space relationship.Under its hidden power space and hidden power mechanism,Mariam completely lost her self-awareness,resulting in the absence of Mariam’s identity.The second chapter discusses that in the mainstream society dominated by men,as the ruler of social space and the narrator of spatial representation,men have been oppressing women.Mariam suffered from oppression from Taliban and religious ideology in social space and gender discrimination from male-chauvinism,which led to self-cognition differences and identity crisis.The third chapter discusses that in the mental space,Mariam made continuous efforts for self-reconstruction and redemption,and finally completed the spiritual growth.The oppression of physical space and the alienation of social space confines Mariam’s pursuit of love and freedom in a space that lacks of power and discourse.She has reconstructed a brand-new identity through the awakening of female consciousness,resistance to patriarchy and sisterhood.The conclusion summarizes the full thesis.By analyzing people’s confusion and pursuit of their own identity in different spaces,the thesis demonstrates that space construction is an important way to reflect people’s identity and reveals the relationship between space and identity.This thesis expresses the concern about the living conditions of women on the edge of the third world.It reflects the suffering and struggle of Afghan women under the influence of patriarchy and religious persecution.It also calls on people to pay attention to the oppressed women who fight for their legitimate and reasonable rights.From the perspective of spatial criticism,this thesis provides the marginalized social groups with a method of identity construction and self-identification.Individuals should strive to get out of the limited space and the repression imposed by various authorities to participate in the reconstruction of self-identification and realize freedom by seeking inner self.