On Spatial Narrative In Disgrace

John Maxwell Coetzee, the Nobel Prize winner in Literature in 2003, is one of the most important white writers in South Africa, whose works vividly show the authentic post-apartheid life. His masterpiece Disgrace makes him the winner of the Booker Prize for the second time. It not only depicts a white professor's personal disgrace, but also tells the puzzlement and hatred, struggle and sorrow of a country. Coetzee is a humanist writer who sees the predicament of the country which has experienced the pain of colonization, and he writes the trauma into novel to present the common predicament of the whole human beings.Although there have been a great number of researches on Disgrace, most of them mainly analyze from the perspective of feminism, post-colonialism, racism, ethnics, identity, and so on. Only a few works probe into the writing features of Disgrace, and studies from the spatial narrative can scarcely be found. The spatial narrative is a newly emerged method of literary criticism which employs the interpretation of the physical place, social space, psychological space and textual space to expound deep meanings hidden behind the text. It possesses valuable research significance. Therefore, this thesis puts great effort in excavating the spatial narrative art in Disgrace.This thesis consists of six parts, including Introduction, four Chapters and Conclusion.In Introduction, it firstly introduces Coetzee and Disgrace. Based on the literature review, the thesis then figures out its research significance: by setting off from the topographical space, social space and textual space concept, this thesis tries to investigate the spatial narrative art in Disgrace.Chapter One briefly introduces the development of spatial narrative. In the second half of the twentieth century, the introduction of spatial dimension in the social sciences field aroused a huge response in the academic world. As a result, the spatial narrative came into being. Secondly, the thesis introduces several specific concepts: the topographical space, social space and textual space, which will be used as the theoretical framework. Through analyzing these three different levels of space in Disgrace, this thesis explores the hero's living environment, the social conflicts he has encountered and how to construct text to highlight his inner trauma, indicating the important role of space in jointly promoting the narrative.Chapter Two is concerned with the topographical space in Disgrace. It not only serves as the background, but also promotes the development of the story. There are two main living spaces: the city and the country. In the city, Lurie is condemned by the public because of raping his student. However, when he comes to the country to take refuge, he has to live with the black and dogs which are disdained by him before. City and country altogether compose the whole environment of human beings, but Lurie is trapped in plight in both spaces.Chapter Three concentrates on the social space. It thoroughly studies the complex social crisis in this novel, so as to uncover Lurie's mental suffering. By investigating the social relationship between the white and the black, it excavates the racial conflict. And by studying the social relationship between Lurie and other women, it shows the trauma that the border-crossing of gender space brings. The complexity of social space lies in the imbalance between the normal social interactions between races and genders. The random disturbance in other space will inevitably cause the disorder of social value and lead to social trauma.The fourth Chapter discusses the artistic fascination of the textual space. Firstly, the concise description of the relationship between characters embodies the author's ingenious language selectivity in constructing a covert space. Secondly, the juxtaposition of Lurie's life and Byron's opera is conducive to the reveal of the decline of Lurie's fate and his compromise with the reality. Moreover, the frequent changing distance between the narrative perspective and narrative voice exquisitely discloses Lurie's mental struggle.Altogether, the research of spatial narrative in Disgrace helps readers understand this novel's profound theme. By virtue of various levels of spatial narrative, Coetzee not only uncovers one person's living and mental suffering, but presents the predicament of the whole human beings. Different from the traditional narrative mode which provides one single space, or only by relying on characters to maintain narrative, Coetzee's multilayer space narrative makes the novel more readable, thus to a large degree enhancing its aesthetic value. Coetzee is undeniably a master of modern novel. He employs the transition of space to promote the development of the plot. Besides, through various levels of space, he reveals different themes. And it is this distinctive writing that tremendously enriches the artistic value of Disgrace.