A Study On The Spatial Narrative Of Joyce Carol Oates’ The Falls

Joyce Carol Oates is an important female writer in the contemporary American and world literature.Oates is a prolific and talented writer and novel is considered to be most successful among her various creations.The Falls,published in 2004,taking Niagara Falls as the main background,depicts the two marriages of Ariah and the family story of two generations,and shows the prevailing survival status of American families from the 1950 s to the 1970 s.The novel reflects serious contemporary social problems and reveals the survival dilemma of characters in different spaces.Previous studies on The Falls focus on the time when it first publishes and mainly starts from the perspectives of feminism and eco-criticism.However,few scholars interprets the novel from the perspective of spatial theory.Taking spatial theory as the theoretical framework and adopting the close reading method,this thesis will make a comprehensive and in-depth interpretation of physical space,social space and textual space to explore the narrative space and thematic meaning of this novel.The novel consists of three parts: honeymoon,marriage and family and it contains a series of physical spaces and spatial variations promote the narrative process.While the stable physical space of home,which enables characters to survive,also plays a huge role in character creation.Social space is full of all kinds of social relations.Starting from female social space,male social space and nature space,this thesis discusses Oates’ s views on women,justice and nature and reveals the realistic theme of constant struggle and pursuit of justice.In textual space,this thesis analyzes the selectivity of language and the linearity of the text,and demonstrates that the use of repetition,juxtaposition,flashback highlights spatiality of textual space.Based on the spatial theory,this thesis clarifies the spatiality characteristic of the novel and explores the realistic themes behind it.It is expected to broaden and deepen the academic research on The Falls,and provide a new perspective for the study of Oates’ s novels and her creative thoughts,and deepen the understanding and appreciation of Oates’ s novels.