On Colonial Third Space In Dusklands

John Maxwell Coetzee is one of the most remarkable contemporary writers, whose debut,Dusklands, is quite touching, with unique perspectives, fine structure, meaningful dialogues, and deepspeculation. Being expert at the art of empathy, the author shows us in his works the distinction ofdifferent cultures and the inner mind of abhorrent characters, with remarkable achievements. Bymeans of adopting Edward Soja’s third space theory, this thesis makes researches on the content,structure and characterization of Dusklands, arguing that the novel describes a world between binaryopposition. Time, space, character, plot and other factors of the novel are embodied into the thirdspace with the combination of both physical and mental spaces, supported by the same ideology andframed with the colonial third space. Along with the conduct of colonial aggression, both partiesinvolved are to enter the colonial third space. With the capitalist ideology, both sides of colonizationcorrespondingly will be affected negatively in the formation process of the colonial third space.Therefore, recognizing the consequences is quite necessary, for that will help find a solution to theissue of breaking away from and shaking off the bound of third space.The thesis offers in the introduction part a brief account of Dusklands before providing aliterature review and discussing the basic frame of this thesis.Chapter one mainly analyzes different forms of third space. Firstly, discussed are a systematicorder of the sources and the development path of third space theory and the focus is on Edward Soja’ssynthetical theory, clarifying the specialty of third space as a combination of both mental and physicalspaces. On this basis, a further analysis is made on the essential elements of novels, which are all inform of third space, and then multiple third spaces are manifested.Chapter two focuses on the construction of colonial third space, which is the basis for theconstruction of all third spaces. Pillared with the same aggressive capitalist ideology, the novel hasbuilt up a large framework of colonial third space, which works as the base for the attachment ofvarious third spaces. In the course of formation of third spaces, both sides of colonization are broughtinto third space, and both are affected adversely in varying degrees.Chapter three puts emphasis on the meaning of forming colonial third space. The construction ofcolonial third space plays an important role in further exploring the way of evading the evils it mightbring about, the source of space theory, and the role of ideology in third spaces.The conclusion is reached in the end that with capitalist ideology as the pillar, Coetzee has built aframework of colonial third space in the work, showing on this basis the richness of third spaces. Hehas made great contributions to analyzing the disadvantages of colonial third space and furthermore enriching the theory of third space.