A Contradictory Space—an Analysis Of Spatial Criticism On E.M.Foster’s A Passage To India

Edward Morgan Foster,a celebrated British novelist in the twentieth century,wrote A Passage to India which is his longest novel and the most popular and widespread one.The novel tells their journey and encounters from the two English ladies Mrs.Moore and Adela in the colonized India.Through the application of spatial criticism to make contrasts in the spatial construction of A Passage to India,the social and cultural attribute behind the space will be explored completely.Spatial criticism provides us with a more research angle and theoretical dimension,and further proves the significant value of spatial connotation for analyzing the text.The space in the novel can be interpreted from three parts:living space,social space and individual space.The racial conflict and prejudice can be vividly showed through the spatial contrast.The living space presents the implicit spatial contrast between British colonizers and India colonized,as well as their disparity of status and culture.The intense opposing forces in gender and race can be dug out in the social space.The individual space presents various oppressed individual peculiarities:self-contemptuous,blended,numb and rebellious.Under the impact of British administration,British colonizers and colonized Indians live in disparate spaces with respective living surroundings and assembly places.The thesis aims to better explore the writer’s inner motivation by means of subdividing and making contrasts with its spaces.Subsequently,a series of Indian issues are highlighted in course of the British colonization including existence situation,group representation and individual condition.Meanwhile,it can be concluded that there does exist contradictions and collisions among different nations in the specific period of colonization.However,it can be seen as a transition period through social development.In the long history of human being,racial contradictions ought to be mutually understood and esteemed,which is also a necessity in the social development.