SPATIAL NARRATIVE IN YE. G. VODOLAZKIN’S NOVELLA “CLOSE FRIENDS”

Abstract

The article uses the theory of spatial narrative to analyze the spatial narrative strategies of Vodolazkin’s novella “Close Friends”, focusing on the typical spatial imagery in the novella, the phenomenon of spatial repetition, and the movement of the protagonists in space.The most important place in “Close Friends” is the Northern Cemetery, which is the place of childhood memory for the three protagonists and a sacred space of extraordinary significance to them. It is also the cultural memory space in Thomas Mann’s novella “Death in Venice”, so the two texts constitute an intertextual relationship.The novella takes the space of the cemetery as the core, and unfolds a circular narrative through the repetition of space and details, reflecting the theme of the flow of fate and the cycle of death.Facing the cycle of death, the protagonist keeps moving in the geographic space. While remembering his close friends and keeping his vow, he also reflects on war and history, and realizes the reshaping of his personality. The article concludes that space has played a role in promoting the narrative plot, highlighting the narrative theme, and forming the narrative structure in Vodolazkin’s novella “Close Friends”, and is the key element that constitutes the novella as a whole.