On Spatial Narrative In J.M.Coetzee's Life & Times Of Michael K

John Maxwell Coetzee(J.M.Coetzee),the Nobel Prize winner in Literature,is a prominent South African novelist,whose oeuvre exerts great influence on world literature.Most of his works is rooted in the context of South Africa,which is rich in the metaphorical sense and profound in meaning.This is especially true to the Booker Prize-winning novel Life & Times of Michael K,in which the utilization of Coetzee's “political allegory” exposes the dehumanization of the apartheid regime of South Africa,and also depicts the living predicament of the oppressed silent other who are at the bottom of South Africa society.Since the publication of the novel,it is widely acknowledged as an excellent work which attracts scholars' attention.Its related research and criticism almost cover every main perspective.However,studies from the perspective of spatial narrative are rare.This paper uses Zoran's theory of spatial narrative to analyze Life & Times of Michael K,and discusses Coetzee's consciousness of space creation.Coetzee uses topographical space to set up the background of the story,to depict the image of the characters;chronotopic space to promote the development of the plot and describe the experience and transformation of the characters,and textual space to reveal the dehumanization of the apartheid system and resisting of the others at the bottom of the society and their determination of pursuing freedom.The purpose of this thesis is to explore the multi-dimensional narrative art of Coetzee and to explore the deep meaning of Life & Times of Michael K by using the theory of spatial narrative.Life & Times of Michael K presents a strong spatial writing style.The study of the spatial narrative in Life & Times of Michael K helps readers to have a better understanding of the profound meaning of this novel.