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Creating Space: An Investigation into the Metaphoric Significance of the Physical Environment in J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey
Dalarna University, School of Languages and Media Studies, English.
2009 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor)Student thesis
Abstract [en]

Communication between characters in the novel begins in an established shared common space but soon spreads out in different constellations and mediations, only to climax at the point where language is abandoned and listening is discovered. The drone of the dial tone at the end of the novel is the depiction par excellence of what Salinger is trying to communicate about prayer. It is in the immanence of opening up to the world that all space finds its source, all people their common divine heritage and meaning. Salinger not only elaborates the issues of the primordial state in metaphysical terms, he also structures the narrative in a way that illustrates aspects of experience spatially. He achieves this by dwelling on the importance of posture, gesture, and spacial awareness, and contrasts it with the use of language as a mediator of meaning. Not only does he posit reoccurring physical objects with symbolic meaning, but he also incorporates objects and spaces, such as the telephone, as agents of juxtaposed lines of metaphysical investigation. His observations are not necessarily arranged in a logical fashion, rather they exist together in a world where they are encountered by the reader in a way that most closely mimics the workings of a holistic system. Investigation can essentially begin with any object as its point of departure, since they ultimately work together to lead the reader to the idea of a common underlying horizon.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Falun, 2009. , p. 28
Keywords [en]
phenomenology, emptiness, Franny Zooey, J.D. Salinger, Jesus, Prayer, mysticism
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:du-4505OAI: oai:dalea.du.se:4505DiVA, id: diva2:518780
Uppsok
Humanities, Theology
Supervisors
Available from: 2010-01-29 Created: 2010-01-29 Last updated: 2012-04-24Bibliographically approved

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CiteExportLink to record
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Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association-8th-edition
  • vancouver
  • chicago-author-date
  • chicago-note-bibliography
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf