An Interpretation Of In America From The Perspective Of Narrative Space

Susan Sontag(1933-2004) is a famous female writer in America, and In America, a novel based on the real historical events, is written in her later period. It is about the life story of the famous Polish actress Helena Modrzejewska immigrating to America. In this novel, Sontag combines fiction and history effectively, conveying her worries and anxiety for the modern intellectuals.From the late twentieth century, spatial turn appears in criticism theory. Influenced by spatial turn, space becomes one of the focuses for the narrative theory, leading to the appearance of the narrative space. The present thesis aims to interpret Sontag’s unique narrative strategy and the theme of exile she wants to convey in this novel from the perspectives of topographical space and the chronotopic space constructed by Gabriel Zoran in his Towards a Theory of Space in Narrative and the social space proposed by Lefebvre, who is the founder of space theory.The whole thesis consists of three parts, namely, introduction, four chapters and conclusion.The introduction is about Susan Sontag’s main achievement, her later work In America, the previous study of Sontag and In America both at home and abroad and the significance of this thesis. The author of the thesis will interpret Sontag’s In America from the perspective of narrative space.Chapter One functions as the theoretical foundation for the thesis. It mainly introduces the development and history of narrative space. The previous narratology mainly focuses on the temporal dimension and overlooks the spatial dimension. Influenced by the spatial turn appearing in the late 20 th century, narratology also begins to pay attention to space in novels. From the publication of The Spatial Form in Modern Literature to the social space proposed by Lefebvre, and then to the most systematic and comprehensive topographical space and the chronotopic space constructed by Zoran, the content of spatial narrative is enriched constantly. The attention paid to narrative space grows with each passing day among literary critics.Chapter Two focuses on the analysis of topographical space in In America. The analysis is unfolded from the concrete topographical space and the juxtaposition of topographical space. By the analysis of concrete topographical space New York and Philadelphia from different perspectives and the analysis of the juxtaposition of different places at the same level in Poland and America, this part aims to highlight that these topographical spaces not only promote the development of the plots, but also help convey the theme of exile in the novel.Chapter Three explores the social space in In America. The concrete social space presented in In America is the conflict between ideal and reality and the collision between European culture and American culture. These Polish immigrants led by Maryna get away from the oppression in their own country and dream of living their ideal life by founding a utopian community with great confidence. However, the cruel reality in America destroys their hope and dream. After her return to the American stage, Maryna experiences the intensive collision between her own culture and American culture, realizing that the Polish immigrants are the generation without root in America and doomed to exile in America.Chapter Four analyzes the chronotopic space in In America. The analysis is conducted from three aspects, namely, cosmic synchronization, fragmentation and variation of duration. By the analysis of the cosmic synchronization, readers can find that the traditional linear narrative is broken, while the space of scenes is highlighted in this novel; by the analysis of fragmentation, readers could have the feeling that the whole novel seems to be fragmented, which conveys the deep meaning that the life of the Polish immigrants in America is also fragmented; by the analysis of the variations of duration, one can realize that the temporal time is deviated and the text is spatialized. All of these devices contribute to leading to the spatialization of narration.The last part serves as the conclusion. By the analysis of the topographical space, social space and chronotopic space in In America, on the one hand, we can experience Sontag’s unique narrative techniques, namely narrative space, which breaks the traditional narrative skill taking time as the main line; on the other hand, we can also feel that Sontag, as a representative of modern intellectuals, by narrating the exiled life experience of the Polish immigrants in Amrerica, aims to reflect the confusion and anxiety suffered by the modern intellectuals, showing her worries about their spiritual state without a sense of belonging for the modern intellectuals.