Approaching The Cold War In Ian McEwan’s Novels From The Perspective Of Space Theory

The works of the British contemporary writer Ian Mc Ewan at different stages present different features in his writing of space,which correspond to the changes in his Cold War writing style.This thesis will select representative works from Mc Ewan’s three creative stages and analyze the characteristics of his Cold War writing.His Early works reflect British males’ internalization of the Cold War thinking modes and resistance to the outside space through violent behavior in secluded spaces.The focus of his works in the second phase shifts from describing specific physical spaces to exploring the impact of spatial thinking,revealing how the Cold War nuclear threats promote spatial historical records,and that synchronicity become an important feature and method in interpreting the Cold War history.The later works attempt to explore the strategy of deconstructing the core discourse of the Cold War(i.e.,binary opposition thinking).Using the reading strategies of spatialization,this thesis analyzes how Sweet Tooth challenges the traditional Cold War literature and how it deconstructs the binary oppositions in literary elements such as readers,authors,characters,and texts,providing the possibility of dismantling the Cold War thinking mode of binary opposition.The first chapter of this thesis briefly introduces the writer and the Cold War writing in his works,sorts out relevant studies,and puts forward the research questions and thesis statement.Chapter Two analyzes the Cold War writing in Mc Ewan’s early fiction and short stories,which reflects the Cold War anxiety and its challenge to the British masculinity through the violence of egocentric characters in secluded spaces.The defense for these secluded space boundaries is both the result of the influence of the Cold War thinking mode on the individuals,and the strategy for the individuals to expel the outside threat and establish their own identities.The third chapter analyzes Mc Ewan’s work Black Dogs during the transitional period,pointing out that the Cold War narratives and apocalyptic anxieties affect people’s way to tell and remember history.While various emotions can spread rapidly and invade the private space of individuals,different kinds of imaginations enter the record of authentic history,leading to the fragmentation of history and memory.Thus,different places bearing historical moments gradually become important media to approach authentic history.Synchronicity instead of diachronicity dominates history telling.Chapter Four adopts the reading strategy of spatialization,focuses on Mc Ewan’s later works,summarizes the characteristics of traditional British spy fiction,and analyzes how Sweet Tooth,one of the most representative works of this period,deconstructs traditional spy novels and the Cold War discourses.With the metaphor of literary creation and interpretation,the novels point to the autonomy of individuals in the construction of power dynamics in space and the production of meaning in space,creating possibilities for individuals to reflect,confront,and even get rid of the influence of the Cold War narratives and power relations.Chapter Five is the concluding part and summarizes the main ideas of the thesis,which points out that Ian Mc Ewan’s writing about space evolves around his continuously deepened contemplations on the Cold War narratives,offering insights into the critique of and research on contemporary fiction in general.