An Analysis Of The Love Tragedy In Oscar And Lucinda From The Perspective Of Spatial Narrative

As a celebrated contemporary Australian writer, Peter Carey is reputed to be the spokesman of Australian culture. Oscar and Lucinda is his masterpiece which won the Booker Prize in 1988. It presents the readers with the social history of Australian continent, the communication and conflict between Christian culture and aboriginal culture, and the love tragedy between the hero and the heroine.Based on Henry Lefebvre's spatial narrative theory, this thesis probes into the relationship between physical space, social space, psychological space and the narration of the love tragedy. The physical space consists of the geographical space, namely, Australia in the 19 th century and scenic spaces. The then Australia was a British colony which exerted an impact on the settlers' values with its unique political and economic features. The scenic spaces witness the course of the love tragedy from beginning to end, including the Leviathan, Lucinda's cottage, and the glass church. In social space, the oppression of social ethics together with the conflict between Christian culture and Aboriginal culture constitute the social causes of the love tragedy. Psychological space belongs to subjective space, which refers to two aspects: Oscar's submission to religious alienation and Lucinda's feminism against patriarchal society. With the combined influence of physical space, social space and psychological space, their love is doomed to be a tragedy.