The chronotope of London in Charles Dickens`novels

The scientific concern and the aim of the thesis constitute the study of the chronotope asa fictional element in general, and, in particular, the chronotope of city in the novels by CharlesDickens. Such a purpose requires the development of a solid theoretical basis concerning thenarrative and thematic implication of the time-space relationship in fiction, followed by thepractical applicability of the theory to the textual analysis of a number of Dickens? novels. Theimportance of the thesis is the creation of an original and new modality of approach to Dickens?novels through one principle of research and evaluation, which is the chronotope of city.Chronotope in general, defined by Bakhtin as the intrinsic connectedness of temporaland spatial relationships that are artistically expressed in literature, is applicable to theanalysis and interpretation of both the narrative structure of a novel and its range of motifs,themes, ideas, characters, images and other thematic elements. The importance of chronotopearises from its status as an element of narrative and thematic organization and analysis, havingits own process of development and its own typology in the literary text: the chronotope ofhome, the chronotope of road, the chronotope of city.The chronotope of city becomes a means of textual organization on both narrative andthematic levels. The chronotope of London in Dickens? work renders some of Dickens?sconcerns, such as the social background, moral values and the standards of living and theinfluence of the background on the individual.