Out of the Basement-An Analysis of Willa’s Spatial Practice in Linden Hills

In Gloria Naylor’s allusive novel Linden Hills, the basement with a morgue is a dominant image as “the space of representation” to discipline the wives of the Nedeeds. As a representative, Willa, the last wife, manages to go upstairs and out of the basement to burn the house. Based on Lefebvre’s theory of “spatial triad”, this paper aims at the discussion of Willa’s “spatial practice”, with a special focus on Willa’s three steps to challenge and transcend the sexual “representation of space”.