On Multiple Spaces In Slaughterhouse-Five From The Perspective Of Spatial Criticism

Kurt Vonnegut is one of the most distinguished contemporary American postmodern novelists of 20th century.He has obtained much attention from large numbers of scholars and critics at home and abroad for his outstanding postmodern writing methods and deep concerns about human social problems in his works.According to the international and domestic literary review,a great number of researchers have studied Slaughterhouse-Five from various perspectives.However,the research from the perspective of spatial criticism is seldom.Therefore,my thesis is to use this theory to study the novel.Through the detailed interpretation of multiple spaces in the novel,we can see the underlying social,historical and cultural significance and the real living conditions of postmodern Americans.Spatial critical theory mainly focuses on landscapes and spaces in the literary works by emphasizing social,cultural and identity attributes.Spaces are social products and the places with diversified forces converging and competing.Based on some major spatial views of spatial theorist like Henry Lefebvre,Michel Foucault,Edward W.Soja and so on,the thesis aims to expose living plights of postmodern people and reveal Vonnegut’s exploration of ways-out and wishes for new world by the means of analyzing the physical space,spiritual space and the Thirdspace in Slaughterhouse-Five.