| Khaled Hosseini is the most influential modern Afghan-American writer.His three published novels—The Kite Runner(2003),A Thousand Splendid Suns(2007)and And the Mountains Echoed(2013)which are all set in Afghanistan have not only discussed the problem related to Afghanistan and revealed the real Afghanistan to people but also pondered and explored the common dilemma that people around the world all may face.By focusing on the specific issues of Afghanistan,Hosseini highlighted the specificity of the situation in Afghanistan and reflected the universality of the experience and emotions of Afghan people,which on one hand captures reader’s attention,and on the other hand arouses intense resonance of readers to the theme of the novel.And the Mountains Echoed still started from Afghanistan but compared with The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns,this novel with a large time coverage has a wider geographical range,contains various and more representative characters,and covers more common themes.Therefore,the novel has received extensive attention from scholars both at home and abroad since its publication.Current studies major focus on the theme,character and so on with little concern to the perspective of space.Concerning the significant role of space in the novel,this thesis,based on the spatial theory of Henri Lefebvre,will discuss how spaces have promoted the narrative of the novel from three aspects—physical,mental and social spaces.The thesis,divided into five chapters,starts with a brief introduction to Khaled Hosseini and And The Mountains Echoed.Then studies concerning the novel both at home and abroad will be reviewed aiming to find new perspectives.The third chapter introduces Henri Lefebvre and his spatial theory as well as relevant opinions of spatial narrative with a special emphasis on the former.Chapter four,as the major part of the thesis,discusses the three types of spaces and their respective function in narrative.The physical space,usually playing as a static background,also has some dynamic features.It can be used as background information carrier to make the event convincing.Through the change of space and shift among spaces,the plot development also can be promoted.In addition,the vast geographical coverage in the novel breaks the simple physical space limits,suggesting the global theme of the novel.Furthermore,various mental spaces in the novel play an important role in shaping a variety of characters,while identical or similar mental spaces indicate Hosseini’s concern about the common dilemmas.And the last type is social space which has drawn more attention from Lefebvre.The analyses of social space can not only help readers get a deeper understanding of Afghanistan society but also lead readers’ attention to the common social issues.The last chapter of the thesis makes a further conclusion of the functions of spaces in the novel and discusses the sublimation of the theme.Based on relative spatial theories,through the analysis of three types of space,the thesis has discussed the important role of space in the narrative of And the Mountains Echoed.And from the perspective of space,it also provides a different way of reading and understanding the non-linear and fragmented novel. |
