Spatiality Across Traditions: A Comparative Study of the Greek Adventure Novel of Ordeal and Selected Native American Novels

Abstract

The present study offers a comparative analysis of the Greek adventure novel of ordeal and selected Native American novels in order to investigate the representation of space and place in the chosen works. It explores the spatial dynamics of plot structure and the human experience of spatiality. The study employs the Bakhtinian notion of the chronotope to examine the orientation of space and place in the Greek adventure novel of ordeal and selected Native American texts. It also utilizes Alan McKee’s methodological framework of textual analysis to understand the metaphorical, symbolic, and imaginary representations of space and place in the selected works. The findings suggest that the two genres represent space and place differently. The Greek adventure novel of ordeal portrays space as abstract, isolated, and devoid of socio-cultural integration, whereas the spaces in the selected Native American texts are grounded in the real spaces of reservations, with autobiographical and cultural orientations, thereby rendering Native American spaces and spatial experiences more authentic.

Keywords: Native American Novels, Space and Place, Tracks, Chronotope, Topos