繼"語言轉向"之后,西方學界在20世紀80年代前后掀起了"空間轉向"的浪潮。在空間理論的視域下,以往只重視時間和歷史的傾向被打破,文學從根本上被視作一種空間生產。空間理論的多元性為文學批評提供了一個開放的場域,文學文本與地理、歷史、社會和文化之間的界限被打破,多個領域的互動關聯成為可能。與此同時,這種開放性和能動性也必然使得理論的異質性得以凸顯,理論的繁蕪為空間批評帶來不可避免的困難,一定程度上削弱了批評實踐的可操作性。本文旨在剖析空間批評的發展現狀,在展現其構成對傳統文學批評的突破的同時,挖掘現有空間批評隱藏的弊端,揭示空間批評實踐的困境,探索其進一步深化發展的可行性路徑。

A "spatial turn" happened in Western academic circles in the 1980 s after the "linguistic turn". With the boom in spatial theories disrupting the previous theoretical focus on time and history, literature is now regarded as a spatial product, and the diversity of spatial theories provides an open field for literary criticism. Critics cross boundaries between literary text and geography, history, society and culture to make interdisciplinary interaction. However, such openness and initiative lead to a heterogeneity of theories, which inevitably weakens spatial criticism and to a certain extent reduces its feasibility. This article presents an overview of spatial criticism to show its departure from traditional literary criticism, to examine its hidden defects, to reveal the plight of spatial criticism practice, and to explore the possibility of its further development.