An Analysis On A Passage To India From The Perspective Of Literary Geography

Edward Morgan Forster is one of the most famous British novelists in the 20^thcentury.He spends much of his life traveling and living abroad.Many of his observations and experiences are recorded in his fictions,most notably A Passage to India,which chronicles his twice experiences in India.Guided by literary geography,this thesis traces the territory related to the writer’s creation,focusing on the geographical spaces in A Passage to India,and revealing the profound cultural connotations and spiritual significance.The thesis is divided into six chapters.The first chapter is a preamble that focuses on the research status of A Passage to India to reveal the significance of the thesis.The second chapter concentrates on the theoretical foundation,that is,literary geography,with Mei Xinlin’s theory as the primary focus.The third chapter,the fourth chapter,and the fifth chapter successively form the main body of the thesis.Based on the concept of territory restoration in Mei Xinlin’s theory,the third chapter deals with Forster’s activity places,tracing the regions related to the novel.The British island has nurtured the national spirit of constant expedition and exploration,cultivating many writers who advocate adventure and exploration.This national spirit facilitates the idea of wandering and offers prototype for the theme of A Passage to India.By employing the concept of scene restoration,the fourth chapter explores the construction and the metaphorical meanings of the geographical spaces in the text.Recording and rewriting the distinctive geographical landscapes in India,Forster orderly constructs the humanistic geographical space,Chandrapore,which highlights the national ethnocentrism;the natural geographical space,Malabar Caves,a mirror space revealing the real self of characters;and Mau,the imaginary geographical space that serves as a hopeful space repairing conflicts.In accordance to the connotation of spiritual exploration,the fifth chapter analyzes the ultimate significance of the geographical spaces in the novel from the perspective of the local-exotic dimension.The geographical spaces constructed in sequence reflect the psychological changes of the characters.In this process,the geographical spaces are transformed into the spiritual spaces.Overall,the thesis first traces the real regions that the writer travels and explores,focusing on the influence of the geographical elements on the writer.Then it analyzes the metaphorical meanings of the geographical spaces and reveals their ultimate significance.The thesis aims to achieve a positive interaction between geography and literary works and provide a valuable supplement to the interpretation of this work to some extent.