Identity Problems:A Study Of Slaughterhouse Five From The Perspective Of Spatial Criticism

As an influential postmodernist novelist in American literature, Kurt Vonnegut leaves a considerable quantity of literary wealth. Slaughterhouse Five, the masterpiece which makes him universally famous, has been a hot-discussed focus since its publication in 1969. Various perspectives have been applied to interpreting this novel though, few attempts to read it by combining the spatial criticism with identity. Identity is a historical problem developing with human beings and receiving more and more concern. As a product by elements of nature, history, society, politics and powers and a place where various social forces intertwine, it reflects different social relationships and has a profound historical significance. The novel Slaughterhouse Five presents us a multi-dimensional art space instead of a single virtual world. Based on the writing background and previous studies, this thesis attempts to explore the identity problems by interpreting several special spaces meticulously structured by the author from the perspective of spatial theory. This thesis endeavors to expound identity problems reflected in Slaughterhouse Five from the perspective of spatial criticism and indicate that the only way to reconstruct the identity is to impartially review history and brave traumatic memory.This thesis consists of five parts including the introduction and conclusion. The introduction involves a brief introduction of Kurt Vonnegut and his famous Slaughterhouse Five, as well as a literature review giving a general summary of the most influential discussion on Slaughterhouse Five from four aspects: themes, characters, writing techniques and literary theories. The objective and meaning of this thesis will be pointed out in this part. Chapter One functions as the theoretical foundation of the thesis, which elucidates Henri Lefebvre's spatial theory, the notion of identity and the relationship between them. Chapter Two elaborates real space in the novel and analyses the problems people encounter when they handle the relations between self and other, collective identity and that of culture and society. Chapter Three mainly analyzes the identity problem from the imaginative spaces, such as intergalactic space, politicized space and psychological space. The final chapter gives a conclusion which restates the main idea of this thesis: as a writer, Vonnegut aims to take the responsibility and mission to repair the spiritual world destroyed by the war, to reconstruct the identity and brave traumatic memory through literary writing, additionally, to sound the alarm for the modern individuals trapped in identity crisis and living predicament.