A Lonely Song Of Humanity

Carson McCullers is a well-known author in the field of Southern American literary studies,known as the “lonely hunter”.As one of the most important female writers in America,she mainly focuses on portraying marginal figures of American society,and the themes are about loneliness and solitude of those people.McCullers was born in a small town in the South America,whose living environment had been the source of her creation.As she experienced in her life tortures of long-term illness,she has formed her special understandings on life and loneliness.The Ballad of the Sad Café was written by McCullers when she was experiencing divorce.This work,reflecting rich narrative skills and contents stood out immediately after its publication.This book is categorized into the “gothic novels” and many critics were keen on the grotesque style of it.This thesis is divided into five parts.The chapter one is the introductory part,which focuses on the introductions of the life experience and major works of Carson McCullers,the literary review of studies on both McCullers and her works at home and abroad,and the significance of this study.Chapter two briefly explains the theoretical basis of this paper,including narrative theory,spatial narrative theory and so on.Chapter three belongs to the body part,analyzing in detail the rhetorical studies of the language features of The Ballad of the Sad Café and how those features influence the theme.Chapter four analyzes from the perspective of space narrative theory the “space features” of The Ballad of The Sad Café and how the form echoes the theme.Chapter five draws a conclusion that Carson McCullers demonstrates what she thinks the human nature is.