Deep Chronotopes

The complexity of the deep chronotopic map makes the fact that there is no categorical chronotope explicit. This multifariousness is typical of the realist novel, with its panoramic range and intricate plot. Nonetheless, closer analysis of The Nether World’s chronotopic structure reveals patterns. ‘Parlour’ is the largest chronotope – this fits the proliferation of intimacy and intrigue, of communication and miscommunication, of public and private that drives the plot along. This co-existence of opposites at the root of the 'parlour' chronotope is also at the root of the novel: ‘anti-idyll’ is indirectly connected to the ‘idyll’ and to ‘idyllic-wilderness’. As such, the mechanical and other are bonded to the natural and the known. This demonstrates how, in multi-character (and therefore multi-consciousness) novels, settings, too, are multiple, even embodying opposing characteristics. Overall, the inner circle of 9 highly connected chronotopes creates a spherical shape – particularly apt for a novel representing a world.