A Study On The Alienation Writing Of Urban Space In Dreiser’s Novels

As a pioneer of modern American fiction,Dreiser’s long novels provide a realistic and profound analysis of the American city at the beginning of the 20 th century with genuine urban experience and an open vision,reflecting on the ills of American society.The dissertation compares the alienation of the urban space in Dreiser’s novel with the characteristics of alienation in the process of industrialization in the U.S.By sorting out these alienation symptoms,the dissertation explores the ills of the times that caused the alienation and reveals the spiritual difficulties implied behind the alienated space,arguing that Dreiser,as a realist writer,tries to explore a path of spiritual breakthrough for modern people with humanitarian sentiments and rebuild the spiritual fortress of reason and fraternity.Starting from the alienation of urban space in the novel,this paper uses a combination of textual reading and cultural criticism,employing spatial theory,consumption theory,power theory and gaze theory to clarify the relationship between Dreiser’s ideological dynamics and mainstream social ideology in his creative work,and to explore his attempts to expose and transform American society behind the alienated urban space,taking the alienation of urban space in the novel as a starting point,and taking the context of the times and urban development into account.The text is divided into three parts.The first chapter explores the alienation of urban space in Dreiser’s writing,mainly from three aspects: domestic space,consumer space and political space,and discusses the alienation characteristics of different urban spaces.The second chapter analyzes the causes of the alienation of urban space from two aspects: social capital and individual desires.The expansion of capital in the city has caused the division of urban space and prevented the flow of classes with an invisible barrier.Desire has been amplified in the city,bringing great destructive power and causing the ethical disorder of urban space.The metropolis is a fertile ground for the growth of capital and desire.The second chapter analyzes the causes of the alienation of urban space from two aspects: social capital and individual desires.Capital drives the expansion of the city and causes the differentiation of urban space;while desires are constantly amplified in the city,bringing great destructive power and causing the ethical disorder of urban space.The city has become a fertile ground for the growth of capital and desire.The third chapter points out the value demands of Dreiser’s alienated space writing.The alienated urban space has caused the spiritual alienation of individuals in the modern city,and in the face of the rampant materialism and the faltering value system in the city,Dreiser always thinks about the way of salvation for modern man,trying to rebuild a spiritual fortress for modern man by using fraternity and religion as weapons.Dreiser’s narrative of the mutation of urban space in modern society in different periods demonstrates his pondering on the spiritual predicament of modern man,from affirmation to skepticism of consumerism,to awe to suppression of superhuman power,to alienation to return to religion,reflecting the increasingly strong sense of reflection in Dreiser’s thought.Dreiser has been trying to use knowledge,benevolence and even religion to repair the urban space full of alienating power,and to reconstruct the spiritual fortress of modern man in the midst of ethical disorder.Although his attempts are somewhat fanciful,his great humanitarianism and concern for the fate of mankind are already a remedy for the persistent problems of American society.