The Spatial Narrative of Great Expectations Abstract  The research of narration not only has the time dimension, but also the space dimension. But in the former study, scholars always ignore the latter. Spatial narrative, in semantics, is the threads and orders. It has the functions to promote the plots, create characters and construct meanings. We can see the spatial narrative structure in Dickens’ s Great Expectations. This essay will introduce the physical space and mental space in Great Expectations to help readers understand its structure and theme better. 46983

Key words: spatial narrative, physical space, mental space

 论《远大前程》中的空间叙事

摘  要叙事学研究既存在时间维度，也存在空间维度。(龙迪勇，2006，p.10) 但在之前的研究中，学者们往往会忽视后面一点。空间叙事，从语义上解释，也就是故事的头绪与次序，对情节发展，人物塑造以及意义构建方面都有很重要的作用，狄更斯晚年的作品《远大前程》里就有很经典的空间叙事结构。本文将对作品中的物理空间以及心理空间做一定的分析，让读者能更好地把握作品的结构和意义。

毕业论文关键词：空间叙事；物理空间；心理空间

Contents

1. Introduction 1

1.1 Backgrounds 1

1.1.1 The Author of Great Expectations, Charles Dickens 1

 1.1.2 Summary of Great Expectations 1

1.2 Brief Introduction of the Spatial Narrative 1

1.3 Researches both at Home and Abroad 2

2. The Physical Space in Great Expectations 3

2.1 The Formation of the Physical Space 3

2.2 The Manifestation Mode in Describing the Physical Space 4

2.3 The Effects of the Physical Space 4

3. The Mental Space in Great Expectations 6

3.1 An Introduction of the Third Space 6

3.2 The Formation of the Mental Space 6

3.3 The Effects of the Mental Space 7

  3.3.1 Sectioning Every Plot 7

  3.3.2 Indicating ending 7

   3.3.3 Removing suspense 7

4. The Relations between These Spaces And Their Effects 8

4.1 The Relations between These Spaces 8

4.2 The Effects of These Spaces 8

5. Conclusion 10

References 11

 1. Introduction

Great Expectations is one of the most famous novels by Charles Dickens. It is popular not only because of its profound theme, but also its narrative technique.

1.1 Backgrounds

    1.1.1 The Author of Great Expectations, Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens, is regarded as a excellent English writer in Victorian Age. As one of the greatest literary geniuses, he was more popular with people than other authors during his lifetime. Great Expectations is one of the most important works in his later life. 

    As a representative of novel creation, Dickens wrote many works to attack socialism with his sense of justice including Great Expectations. Because Dickens wrote this novel in his later life, this novel contains much experience of his life and his mature narrative skills. As John Sampson commented, for Dickens’ s novels, the important point is not the novel itself, but the form that he narrated the novel.