Space-time and the production of meanings in Nuno Bragança’s Directa

Abstract

Various disciplines have studied the Space and Time categories over time, both separately and together. For humans, according to Tuan, “The experience of space and time is largely subconscious” (2014, p. 118). As in human experience, these two categories are inseparable in narrative genre because “‘story time’ emerges from the interplay of space, events, characters, and plot structure” (Scheffel, 2014). The inseparability of Space and Time is also present and visible in a city, as shown by several authors. Concerning these two categories, in Nuno Bragança’s novel Directa, the author explores simultaneously the potential offered by the city of Lisbon and the narrative genre. In this chapter, we intend to show how the author treats space and time in the novel, especially, how he uses the practice of the city space as an intentional way to establish and treat various times and build essential messages of the work, especially through hero maps and routes, and reflections.