In Pursuit Of Lost Childhood:a Study On Ian McEwan’s The Child In Time From The Perspective Of Spatial Criticism

The Child in Time, the winner of the Whitbread Prize for Fiction in 1987, serves as the masterpiece of the British national writer Ian McEwan’s transformation period of literary creating style. Since its publication, many scholars from home and abroad have made abundant researches on this novel. However, the author of the thesis has found that studies on this work from the perspective of Spatial Criticism are very limited, therefore, it is valuable to make some research into the novel from a different point of view.Henri Lefebvre subdivides space into three parts, namely, the physical spaces, the social spaces as well as the mental spaces. Within this theoretical framework, this thesis will explore the characters’ thoughts and behaviors under the mutual effects and influences of the three above-mentioned spaces through the close reading of the novel, and interpret how do the characters seek their lost childhood, in order to illustrate that different belief and choice for life will correspondingly lead to different condition and end of life, thus to summarize what attitude and principles people should apply to counter the adversity and sufferings in their lives, and ultimately return to the trueness of humanity. The Child in Time reflects McEwan’s social conscience and humanistic care, and arouses readers’concern over the living environment and mind condition of modern people.