Neverwhere and the Connectedness between Identity and Space in Contemporary Fantasy Literature

Abstract

In The Dialogic Imagination (1981), Mikhail Bakhtin defines the chronotope as the “fusion of temporal and spatial indicators in the narrative. The fantasy genre uses unique chronotopes such as those of multidimensionality, time travel, and heterotopia – discordance of universes – as defined by Michel Foucault in his lecture “Of Other Spaces”. These enable transitions between the “primary” and “secondary” worlds, or reality and alternate realms, and could be utilised by authors to comment on today’s societal problems effectively. Based on Joseph Campbell’s The Hero of a Thousand Faces and Tzvetan Todorov’s The Fantastic, fantasy stories often feature a hero embarking on a transformative journey to an otherworldly realm, returning profoundly changed. In Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, Richard Mayhew, struggling to adapt to London, becomes trapped in “London Below”, a surreal, alternate version of the city. His journey through this fantastical realm, filled with peculiar beings and altered landmarks, mirrors Richard’s journey of self-discovery. This paper explores how imagined spaces in Gaiman’s Neverwhere (1996) reflect a protagonist's personal transformation, using genre-specific chronotopes to represent transitions and adaptation to new life situations.