| Spatial form, opposite to the traditional diachronical narrative order, is characteristic of interrupting the linearity of the narrative, emphasizing its synchronic effect. As a comparatively new technique, spatial form plays a significant role in the portrayal of the personality of the characters, the expression of the theme of the work on the part of the author, and in the improvement of the aesthetic awareness on the part of the reader. So it is very important in the comparatively overall understanding and expoundation of the text. Spatial-form technique in the novel Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant written by Anne Tyler is shown in three ways:juxtaposition, defamiliarization and characterization. With the spatial-form theory of Joseph Frank, Eric Rabkin, David Michelsen and the relevant theory, the thesis attempts to give a detailed expoundation on the very technique, demonstrating in a great detail how these approaches are ingeniously applied in the text.In Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, there are altogether four lines of plot, including one main plot and three subplots. The juxtaposed plots interrupt the continuity of the main plot in an effective way, showing the complicated psychological activities, the accordingly physical acts and the change of the personality of each character. The juxtaposed points of view help a reader produce overall assessment as much as possible on each character, eliminating the subjectivity of their own judgment, and further come to know the source of the underlying reasons for the misunderstanding among them.Plot is the defamiliarized story. The rearrangement of the plots is not only a matter of the sequential change in the development of the story, but a matter of a writing technique. In Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, the continuity of the story is frequently interrupted:the narrative is often disrupted by the memory, dream and imagination; two discontinuous chapters are devoted to one character’s story with almost two rounds for the ten chapters of the novel. If the four characters’story is juxtaposed, synchronical effects is naturally produced. The defamiliarized character highlights the personality of the character, while juxtaposing the defamiliarized character reinforces its function. The images of Ezra and Pearl are defamiliarized to be their opposite gender---the former acts like a motherly female, while the latter a nonfeeder mother, changing the traditional concept of average people’s idea on male and female, resulting in a reader’s strange and new impression on the characterization of the author, which helps to express the central theme that the problems and crises of the ordinary American family prevail in the middle part of20th century.The establishment of the relationship network and the depictions of Pearl’s state of mind are extremely helpful in the portrayal of the personality of the characters and the expression of the work’s theme. The subtle and complicated relationships among the Tull family are vividly disclosed by the archery incident, and their personalities thus stand out, such as Pearl’s preference to Ezra, her endless criticism and misunderstanding to Beck, Cody’s Jealousy of Ezra, Ezra’s good luck and clumsiness, and Beck’s innocence. While the depictions of the metal state of Pearl reveal her enormous spiritual suffering, her extreme longing for warmth and love, showing the conflicts and alienation among family members and strengthening the theme.Finally, the thesis makes a short summary on the above analysis and comes to the conclusion that Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant is an excellent example of spatial-form text. |
