The Spatialization Of Power In Alice Munro's Short Stories

Alice Munro,a distinguished female Canadian short story writer,became the Nobel Laureate for the literary and emotional depth of her works in 2013.The thesis tries to adopt Henri Lefebvre's spatial theory and Michel Foucault's views of space and power to examine a series of juxtapositions and contrasts of space in six short stories.The thesis aims to unveil the phenomena of spatialization of power in Munro's fictional world and go further to reveal Munro's understanding of power in the contemporary society.In the thesis,the spatialization of power is represented in three aspects: gender norms,social class as well as urban and rural space.This thesis unfolds in three chapters.Chapter one reveals men's “supremacy” over women and the latter's plight both physically and spiritually through the examination of the outdoor and inner space respectively occupied by men and women.It is also worthy of observation that females begin to develop self-awareness in the power struggle despite their failure to reconstruct the network of power.Chapter two focuses on the contrast between the limited space open to the lower class and the vast space occupied by the upper class,which serves as strong proof for the privilege and power of the high social class in the political context.Space is also employed as a weapon to manifest the power owned by the upper social class.Chapter three discusses the advantages and disadvantages in both urban and rural space to unveil the cities' exploitation of rural areas and people's identity dislocation which results from pursuit of power.Urbanization bases itself on the exploitation of rural space and cities demonstrate the power in the form of spaces they have taken.To conclude,in Munro's fictional world,power struggle tends to be normalized due to the multiplicity of space and flexibility of power.Individuals in the society seething with power struggles are enlightened to establish their subject consciousness,make clear of their personal value and achieve their self-identification.