Spatial Narrative in Celeste Ng's Everything I Never Told You

Yuan Shen, Mengna Xie
2017 Proceedings of 4th International Conference on Education, Language, Art and Intercultural Communication (ICELAIC 2017)   unpublished
Celeste Ng employs spatial narrative to make Everything I Never Told You a multi-dimensional novel. This paper analyzes its spatial narrative in terms of the physical space, social space, spiritual space and textual space. Through the body and some other spatial images, the novelist constructs a suffocative micro-physical space that is in line with the anxiety and gloom felt by the characters. Through Marilyn's disillusionment and James' sense of alienation, the novelist introduces the social
more » ... ace about mixed marriages and the second wave of feminism in the late 20th century. Through the spiritual space, the subtle inner feelings of Marilyn, James and Lydia are unveiled. Through the textual space, non-linear narrative and intertextuality lends enchantment to the novel. Hence, the author enhances readability, flexibility and artistry of the novel by virtue of spatial narrative.
doi:10.2991/icelaic-17.2017.131 fatcat:33kjin44ujdc5ozh735rj4gpae