本文是一篇英语毕业论文，笔者认为帕索斯对于纽约城市的书写，揭示了20世纪初期美国城市化快速发展时期边缘群体的生存状况与精神面貌，深刻表达出对资本主导的城市空间非正义的批判，以及对于边缘群体的人文关怀。
Chapter One Economic Exploitation in Marginalized Spaceof Work
1.1 Labor Control Tricked by Temporary Employment in Street
The city,as an agglomeration of industrialization,reorganizes the field of“urbansocio-economic order”(Sakia 4).During the process of urban reorganization,peoplein rural areas often move from the countryside to the cities in search of new jobs.Inthis process,the rights of the vagrants are ignored.Spatial injustice is manifested inthe dichotomy between the village and the city on the one hand,and through theinjustices experienced by the vagrants who are relegated to the streets on the other.
To make a fortune in New York,there are many immigrants coming into the citythrough the streets.The street serves as the primary demarcation between the city andthe countryside,providing an initial glimpse into urban life for individuals.Accordingto Lefebvre,“the street and through the space it offered,a group took shape,appeared,appropriated places,and realized an appropriate space-time”(Revolution 19).Theurban street is a space to exchange value,which becomes the main space of work forthose immigrants whose working capabilities can’t get the official certification toenter the factory.In Manhattan Transfer,certain immigrants’job opportunities are reduced,resulting in their forced displacement to the streets.
1.2 Minimum Payment Subdued by Repetitive Job in Skyscraper
Spatial injustice is an unjust spatial division:“an allocation of particular parts ofthe labor necessary for social reproduction to particular geographic scales or regions”(Massey 54).Specifically,spatial injustice is exhibited in the harsh space of work,asthe excessive working hours in the space of work have caused the underclass to getvarious diseases with the minimum payments.Since“Dos Passos’s novel is an earlydocumentation of the shifting verticality of the modern metropolis”(McKee 54),thebuilding of the skyscraper coincides with the urbanization and industrialization of theUnited States.Following the boom of industrialization,capital needs more space forproduction.Within the limited horizontal space,they strive to earn more vertical space.In the late 19th century,the American cities represented by New York opened up ahigh level of competition.In that period,the skyscraper could be a factory to contain more workers in a limited horizontal space,and sweatshops took many differentforms in the 19th century,including the skyscraper,which remained synonymous withthe lowest,most degrading employment in the United States.Because of the difficultconditions,regular workers’working positions become“localization and punctuation”(Lefebvre,Production 227).
Chapter Two Class Stratification in the Consumption inRecreational Space
2.1 Class Discrimination by the Spending Capacity in Ballroom
The ballroom as a recreational space can be linked to spending capacity.Owingto the differentiation of spending capacity,this space is dominated by the upper class.In one respect,Lefebvre argues,“space becomes a place where various functions arecarried out,the most important and most hidden being that of realizing in novel waysthe surplus of an entire society”(Revolution 156).Furthermore,within the capitalistmode of production,the generation of surplus value is contingent upon the associationof consumption with recreational space.Under this condition,the entitlement toaccess public space is contingent upon the individual’s spending capacity.AsLefebvre points out,“consumption in place of free enjoyment is the domain of usevalue”(Writings 125).That is to say,in an industrial city,consumption is closelyconnected to the place of enjoyment.When consumption is at the center of therecreational space,it has a clear class cleavage,as Mráz points out,“Dos Passos’snovel is a common property of its inhabitants,but it is never a space truly shared bythem”(75).During that period“new social dances emerged in America”(Mitchell 36),the ballroom becomes the main space for people to socialize and meet the social needsof the upper class.Spatial injustice indicates that a given space is held by powerfulgroups and excludes marginalized people.
2.2 Class Solidification for the False Need in Bar
The ball of the 1920s was a space of entertainment with elitist overtones,whilethe bars of the novel are more class-inclusive with plebeian overtones.Thedevelopment of bars has been influenced by Prohibition in America,and manyspeakeasies or illegal drinking establishments are everywhere in the United States,asbars are the main place for American citizens to interact.In the hidden speakeasiesdescribed in the novel,marginalized group are the main customers for shaping aspiritual home beyond the misery of urban life.For marginalized people,they have noway to enter and accustom themselves to high-class consumption spaces.The barsbecome a few public spaces for them to kill leisure time.
Within the capitalist framework of production,the bar has evolved into a venuethat primarily caters to the consumption of alcoholic beverages,hence reinforcingsocial stratification.Alcohol plays a central role in this process,as it providestemporary consolation to the people who are suffering.That’s why many marginalizedgroups choose to drink to get the mind-altering drug.And it’s easy for them toimmerse themselves in the bar’s offerings of temporary consolation because bars canentice customers by portraying a welcoming atmosphere and delivering temporarycomforts.Lefebvre points out that“nepotism and neo-imperialism share hegemonyover...two kinds of regions:regions exploited for the purpose of and by means ofproduction and regions for consumption”(Production 353).The public bar is thespace of consumption,which intends to control consumers’needs.Thus,the bar ismolded into a space that gives warmth and strength.
Chapter Three Spiritual Oppression in Commodified Lived Space.373.1 Isolation for Being Trapped in Segregated Community........................39
3.2 Negation of Self-Awareness for Living in Unaffordable Room............44
3.3 Split Subjectivity for Obsession with Ideal Apartment........................48
Conclusion.....................................50
Chapter Three Spiritual Oppression in Commodified LivedSpace
3.1 Isolation for Being Trapped in Segregated Community
“Segregation,like the erosion of public space,seems initially to be afundamental feature of the production and urbanization of injustice”(Soja 56).Theexistence of segregated community is common in the construction of a city.In theperiod of the massive surge of foreign immigrants and the local population of the city,“the housing crisis grew to extremes in the early twentieth century”(Calhoun 3).Many marginalized group could only choose to live in relatively run-down areas.Interms of social background,the novel focuses on depicting the darkness anddilapidation of New York and the sense of isolation experienced by the segregatedpeople.
In fact,American spatial ideals accelerate the separation of community,whichhas prioritized private property and ignored the basic needs of marginalized people.Infact,they are forced to be segregated in an invisible way,as the monopolistic qualityof space proposed by David Harvey“rich can command space whereas the poor aretrapped in it”(Social Justice 171).In Manhattan Transfer,the rich and real estatedevelopers are attempting to create sanctuaries of absolute safety in the midst ofdisaster and are introduced to upscale residential neighborhoods over and over again.
Conclusion
First and foremost,Dos Passos portrays a city with no expectations.The logic ofcapital’s operation not only governs marginalized people’s space of work and deniestheir basic life security,but also it defines the dichotomous space of consumption andamusement,resulting in false demand.As a result,most upward mobility formarginalized groups is difficult to achieve.What’s more,under the commodificationof lived space,the emotional connection between people and houses is eventuallysevered.The novel concludes with the portrayal of Ellen who attempts to achievefinancial affluence but develops a growing sense of emptiness within herself.Itindicates that the inherent injustice of space ultimately impacts the human psyche,leading to a shift from poetic habitation to mechanical habitation.In some way,thisfictional persona serves as a lens through which capitalism is observed,highlightingthe role of space as an instrumental force.At the end of the novel,the protagonistJimmy develops a deep distaste for New York,and he decides to leave the city andbegin on a journey to locate a virtuous city through the modification of space.
Secondly,Dos Passos is good at capturing every corner of the city and showingthese scenes through the eye of the lens,allowing readers to step into New York andfeel the cityscape of New York by reading the text.At the same time,these spaces arecarriers of Dos Passos’s emotions,and each scene is given a unique meaning.Moreover,these spaces exert a detrimental influence on the lives of marginalizedgroup,both directly and indirectly.Similar to Fitzgerald,the author offers a thoroughcritique of the hypocrisy prevalent during the Jazz Age.However,Dos Passosdistinguishes himself by directing his attention to the experiences of marginalizedpeople,showcasing his unique stance as a left-wing writer.
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