The Spatial Narrative And Its Significance In Theodore Dreiser's Novels

Theodore Dreiser is a famous writer and senior reporter of American in the early 20 th century.His novels are influenced by his news work experience,his novels are based on real stories,his novel's style is bold,the ideas are deeply and sharp in his novels.This thesis take advantage of the spatial theory and spatial narrative method to study the seven novels of Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie,Jennie Gerhardt,The Financier,The Titan,The Genius,An American Tragedy,The Stoic.On the whole,these characters in these seven works have three common spatial trajectories: From a village or city to Chicago;Then from Chicago to New York;And then From the United States to some cities in Asia or Europe,but in the end,they always returned to New York or Chicago.Chicago and New York are the center of these character's spatial movement.There is a complex set of forces driving these characters' s spatial movement: Dreiser according to himself spatial movement arranged the spatial movement of these characters;and these characters are subject to their own sexual and monetary desires;and they are at the mercy of the external environment and the will of the city.In addition,the orientation of urban culture is important reason.Space is a stage for the critique and reflection of the capitalist economy,the stage presents the homogeneity of urban life.The economic development has brought rich material life,but they loss of a fulfilling spiritual life.They became slaves of money,fame and sex.Dreiser's novel shows the "American Tragedy" in a generation by means of the representation of spatial relations and the reflection of its cultural connotation.In his novels,Dreiser critically and reflected on the social problems of the time.These characters try to find the cultural resources and possibilities of redemption in different geographical Spaces.Therefore,this spatial movement of the characters can be regarded as a cultural searching journey.From the perspective of space,this thesis analyzes how Dreiser depicts the fate of the fictional characters,and the social problems highlighted in the process of urbanization in the United States.It is intended to emphasize the social reality significance,cultural reflection value and theoretical interpretation space of Dreiser's works.