The Spatial Dynamics of Vienna in Graham Greene’s The Third Man

This dissertation examines the function of space in The Third Man, arguing that postwar Vienna operates not as a passive setting but as a materially produced spatial agent that actively shapes perception, narrative structure, and character experience. Drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s theory of the production of space and Freud’s concept of the uncanny, the study challenges readings that treat urban space as a symbolic reflection of psychological states. Instead, it demonstrates that Vienna’s geopolitical division, ruined architecture, and obstructed urban environment generate disorientation as a material condition. This spatial fragmentation produces an uncanny, dream-like narrative logic in which familiar environments become estranged, identities double and blur, and temporal progression gives way to repetition. By foregrounding the agency of space, this dissertation contributes to spatial literary studies by showing how urban environments can produce, rather than merely represent, psychological and narrative instability.