A Cultural Reading Of Space In Wish You Were Here

Graham Swift is one of the most renowned writers of contemporary British literary circle.Critics tend to approach his works from the perspectives of history,eco-criticism,intertextuality and post-modernism;only a few pay attention to the spatial features in his oeuvre.With former studies in sight,this thesis aims to examine,with humanistic geography as theoretical basis,the importance of recurrent spaces in Wish You Were Here and reveal the relation between geography and social life.As the carrier of culture,memory and affect,space merits thorough exploration,which may shed new light upon solutions to various problems confronting modern man.This thesis draws upon Yi-Fu Tuan's humanistic geography to explain historical and practical values of different spaces from the angles of local history,social relations and individual consciousness.The main part of this thesis is divided into three chapters,in accordance with three alternating spaces in the novel:the country,the city and the seaside.The first chapter revolves around the historical significance of rural spaces.For centuries,the country has been invested with great cultural import and expected to serve multiple social functions.Men are united by living close together,with same traditions that strengthen a shrinking rural community and a disappearing common history.In modern times,however,the country gradually declines,leaving men rootless and lost.The second chapter reveals crises of urban spaces.On the one hand,social advances liberate man from old thoughts,offering opportunities for new ways of living;on the other hand,the price paid for urban prosperity is the loss of culture and tradition,along with the decline of the countryside.In the city,differences between men are exposed by class division and power struggle,which intensify,in turn,the ever-worsening urban conditions.The third chapter centers upon the importance of seaside spaces.In the novel,the seaside resort becomes an alternative for people to run away from chaotic,brutal or mundane existence.When freed from worries and social barriers,visitors establish a new community where people regain the sense of belonging and restore faith in love and mutual trust.This,to a certain extent,helps one work through one's traumatic past.For a humanistic geographer,the ultimate purpose of spatial exploration is to achieve a better understanding of man and his world.In the novel,spaces serve not only as backdrops to one's life trajectory,but also as metaphorical substitutes for changing cultural forms that contain variegated interpersonal relations and individual psychology.As a serious work of art,Wish You Were Here blends macro history with micro social life,providing insights and valuable advice for all who try to find a way out of the modern plight.