Space Conversion As Metaphor Of Mental Changes

Thomas Mann is one of the most prominent German writers of the twentieth century and is the representative of the critical realism in German literature.In 1929,Thomas Mann won the Nobel Prize in literature,which laid his place in the literary world of Germany.Thomas Mann has been a great writer of his life,his works are thoughtful and informative,The magic Mountain and Death in Venice are well-known.Spatial conversion is also especially prominent in these two works.Both novels begin with a journey.In The magic mountain,Hans Castorp came to a sanatorium in Davos from Hamburg,while Death in Venice tells the story of a famous writer Gustav von Aschenbach,who travels from Munich,which is located in Bavaria highland,to Venice.Along with the protagonists' movement,the geographical space in the novels also changes constantly.This thesis will use space theory of Lotman to analyse Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain and Death in Venice and try to find out the relationship between space,plot and theme.Thomas Mann put his protagonists on the journey,the journey allows the protagonists to reflect on themselves.Hans Castorp of The Magic Mountain and Aschenbach of Dead in Venice,are both on journey.The former experienced a bottom-up "sanatorium journey",the latter experienced a top-down "vacation tour".Travel first brings with the change of geographical space.In the comparison of different spaces,the protagonists get a variety of space perception and begin to review the original life and reflect on their own.In the plot of the novel,the two journeys present a model of "departure--stay--return".Different space sites appear with the journey.When we analyse the mental changes of the protagonists,we will see that they are in accordance with the changes of outside spaces.Castorp achieves spiritual sublimation during the journey up to the mountain and Aschenbach explores and knows himself during his journey down to Venice.The"sanatorium journey" and "vacation tour" in the two novels are actually "spiritual journey",while the spatial conversion in the novels is the metaphor of the protagonists'spiritual change.