Beyond Love Tragedy: A Study on Urban Emotional Alienation in Early Autumn from the Perspective of Spatial Theory

Abstract

Early Autumn, a realistic short story by the African-American writer Langston Hughes, depicts a story of a chance encounter between two former lovers on the streets of New York, only to separate again. As a classic literary work, it vividly portrays the alienation experienced by urban dwellers. Current scholarly analyses of it predominantly focus on three dimensions: characterization, the theme of tragic love, and minimalist narrative style. The streets, stations, the Square park, and other elements in the story are merely regarded as the supporting background and simple environmental description of narrative time and space, and yet insufficient attention has been paid to explore the influence of the multi-narrative space in the novel on characterization and the evolution of intimate relationships. Based on the perspective of Lefebvre’s spatial theory, this paper focuses on the novel’s diverse narrative spaces to explore how Hughes’s depiction constructs the alienated narrative atmosphere. Also, it tries to explain how the metropolitan environment erodes intimate bonds between individuals. Furthermore, beyond the surface of romantic tragedy, the study reveals the reality of the lonely existence of modern urban souls.