The Wanderer In Paul Auster's Moon Palace

Moon palace is the first novel by Paul Auster,a famous American writer.The novel tells the strange life story of a college student named Fogg.From New York City to the western frontier,Moon palace shows the changes of the inner space of characters under different environments,reflecting the influence of spatial form on the construction of modern self-consciousness.Previous studies on Paul Auster’s novels focus on narrative style,while other perspectives,such as spatial perspective,are less concerned,which provides space for further study.Based on predecessors’ research results,this paper combing the concept of"flaneur",using Benjamin critical theory of urban space,with the help of Henry Lefebvre and Michel Foucault’s space theory,this thesis explores the changes and connection between the different space and characters’psychological space.This thesis is divided into five parts.The first part is introduction including the background and significance of topic,domestic and foreign research review,thesis research ideas and framework structure.The second part is theory about urban space and flaneur,and demonstrate of the feasibility of using space-related theories to interpret Moon Palace.The third part studies urban space,analyzes the self-consciousness and status of characters in different urban spatial forms such as streets,public social places and personal living places.The fourth part focus the characters’psychological states under the American western frontier environment.The fifth part,after briefly summing up the changes of characters’ psychological state under different form of space,the author points out the lesson and value of studying Moon Palace from the perspective of space.