A Study On The Narrative Of Pearl S. Buck 's "Earth" Space

The Good Earth is a masterpiece by the outstanding American writer Pearl S. Buck in the history of Nobel literature. Previous discussions of the novel mostly focused on the ideological content and social significance. For this reason, the paper attempts to analysis the internal mechanism of the novel from the perspective of narrative space, in order to promote the research of this field.My paper consists of six parts; the main body includes four chapters.Introduction combines research findings and the general situation of Pearl S. Buck and The Good Earth at home and abroad, and demonstrates the origin and significance of this topic, foreshadowing for the text.The first chapter demonstrates the value and significance of the topic and indicates the mentality of the research. The purpose of this paper is to break the barrier between traditional and modern scientific theory, and draw lessons from the relevant various narrative space theory to elaborate "The Good Earth" based on the traditional written work. The novel sets three spaces, that is, village, town and city, which have relative independence and are closely related to each other, referring to the matter of geography, social, cultural and psychological aspects, are both structured and thematic spaces. Village is the core, because it forms a panorama of rural society of old China with the town space. Town and city are two outer spaces, supporting the rural space and playing an indispensable role in the novel.The second chapter focuses on the form, meaning and function of rural space. Rural space includes the Wang’s Courtyard, Wang’s fields, threshing ground, the ponds, the earth temple, grave and field trail leading to the city, etc. Many incidents happened in every scenario, and they form a specific segment of the story, these scenes represents the characters of the patriarchal clan system, the idea specification and the limitation in the Old Chinese world, at the same time, it reflects farmers’ land conceptions and land complex, showing Wang Lung’s change and development and embodying his characteristics accurately and vividly. Land complex and the patriarchal consciousness constitute the major ideological implication of rural space.The third chapter focuses on the form, connotation and function of the town space. Town space is formed by such scenes group:the wall, the gate, the city moat and the Huang’s land, the shaved street and the market, restaurant, teahouse, fruit shop, candle shop, all kinds of snacks shops, the Buddhist relics, the bookstall and the school, and the important grain shop in the second half of the novel, especially in the big tea house, many stories occur there, which is a extension and complement of the rural space narration, town space and rural space constitute the Old Chinese in the early20th century, and its function mainly reflects in the interpretation of theme.The fourth chapter focuses on the form, connotation and function of the urban space. Urban space also contains a series of scenes, the rich yard and refugees district, residential areas and buildings, road and lane, the side of the road, and the wild, stores, as well as the iconic landmarks, Confucius temple, the stationary site and the characters’behavior combine together, becoming an important part of the interpretation on the theme.Conclusion is the brief summary and supplement. All spaces highlight characterization, plot and the theme of the novel, manifesting the factuality, subjectivity and initiative. The author had lived for a long time in north of Anhui province and south of Jiangsu province and shared a common fate with the local residents; the profound accumulation of real life successfully enabled her to finish the transformation and leap of the space. The author also understood the art of Chinese classical novel technique, which allowed her to take fully use of the strengths of narrative space, so that she could successfully complete the story.