A Study Of Spatial Narrative In Ali Smith's Hotel World

As one of the most prominent Scottish female writers in the contemporary literary world,Ali Smith is often preoccupied with individuals' living conditions in society,disclosing the anxieties faced by characters.Actually her novels are characterized with the multiple themes and the innovative experimental writing techniques,which has attracted scholars' attention and gained popularity among readers.As a representative novel,Hotel World mainly focuses on five female characters,who gather in one branch of “Global Hotel” and establish certain relationship with each other.By depicting these characters' fate and living conditions in Hotel World,Ali Smith skillfully grapples with the theme of death,love and existential predicament.Based on the spatial narrative theories put forward by Joseph Frank,Henri Lefebvre and Gabriel Zoran,this thesis probes into the narrative function of space in Hotel World from three levels of space structuring,that is,topographical space,social space and textual space,reflecting on the themes of the novel.The topographical space shows characters' living conditions and their inner repression.In the meanwhile,the juxtaposition and comparison of different topographical space in the novel disclose the disparity and contradiction in values embraced by characters.The social space mirrors that the characters are oppressed by the rigid and brutal social hierarchy and that females also suffer oppression from the heterosexual patriarchal society.Faced with marginalized and unequal social status,these characters struggle to revolt against the inequality,exploring their self-worth in society.As for textual space,the innovative and experimental narrative techniques,such as anachronies,multiple points of view and topic-juxtaposition narrative technique,break the traditional linear narrative,enhancing the spatial effect of the text.The other techniques,such as “repetition” and language game,not only display spatial features of the text,but also disclose characters' anxieties.By making a detailed analysis of the narrative function of space,this thesis explores the oppression and existential predicament faced by characters.Moreover,the thesis reveals Ali Smith's insight into social problems and her sympathy and concern for groups with “marginalized” status in society.