On the Road: Spatial Practices in The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices

• Main Authors: Tu, Ku Yun, 杜古筠
• Other Authors: Yang, Li Min
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/6xc54q

碩士 === 國立政治大學 === 英國語文學研究所 === 100 === The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices is a travelogue worked in collaboration between Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins. Besides noting down what they observe and encounter during the trip, Dickens and Collins also enclose two gothic tales which is written respectively by them. Nevertheless, when most critics mention The Lazy Tour, they limit their concerns to simply the two interpolated tales, which violates the integrity of The Lazy Tour by dissecting it into disconnected pieces. This thesis proposes to apply Henri Lefebvre’s conceptual triad to analyze the recurring theme, idleness, which is interpreted by different subjects. By presenting the variations of the concept of idleness, this thesis attempts to see The Lazy Tour as an organic whole. Applying the idea of representation of space, Chapter Two explains how the seemingly inoperative landscapes are programmed and designed, which results in the demise of the deity of Nature. With the support of the concept of spatial practice, Chapter Three proposes to demonstrate how the spatial designs of the lunatic asylum, railway station, and the festive occasion, the race-week, respectively alienate the spatial inhabitants. The idleness manifested by these spatial inhabitants is the syndrome of their alienation. Chapter Four analyzes the constructive aspect of the idleness with the assistance of Lefebvre’s idea of space of representation. In terms of Thomas Idle, one of the protagonists, idleness serves as a resistant measure to develop his own narrative. As far as the two interpolated tales are concerned, idleness can be compared to a way to resist the incorporation of the narrative framework of The Lazy Tour, and in the meanwhile discloses the moral corruption brought by Capitalism.