Black British writer Zadie Smith’s short story “The Embassy of Cambodia” focuses attention on hardships of a young African immigrant woman Fatou in London. By employing Lefebvre’s Space theory, this paper conducts an investigation into various predicaments confronting the protagonist Fatou in different spaces and her countermeasures against them. In physical space, the multicultural Willesden characterized by inherent disconnectedness and ambivalent attitude toward new immigrants, brings Fatou a sense of isolation and loneliness. In social space, being exploited as a modern-day slave by employers, Fatou has to endure racial discrimination such as microaggression, subtle sexist conducts such as mansplaining and manterrupting. The mental space not only witnesses Fatou’s trauma but also her resistance to predicaments.

Ai Guanghui. An Interpretation of “The Embassy of Cambodia” from the Perspective of Spatial Criticism. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2024) Vol. 7, Issue 1: 44-49. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2024.070107.

[1] Lefebvre, H. (1991). The Production of Space. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

[2] Smith, Z. (2013). The Embassy of Cambodia. London: Hamish Hamilton UK.

[3] Sue, D. W., Capodilupo, C. M., Torino, G. C., Bucceri, J. M., Holder, A., Nadal, K. L., and Esquilin, M. (2007). Racial microaggressions in everyday life: implications for clinical practice. American Psychologist, 62(4), 271-286.

[4] McGlashan, M., and Mercer, J. (2023). Toxic Masculinity: Men, Meaning, and Digital Media. Routledge. New York: Routledge.

[5] Joyce, J. B., Humă, B., Ristimäki, H. L., Almeida, F. F. D., and Doehring, A. (2021). Speaking out against everyday sexism: Gender and epistemics in accusations of “mansplaining”. Feminism & Psychology, 31(4), 502-529.

[6] Caruth, C. (1991). Unclaimed experience: Trauma and the possibility of history. Yale French Studies, (79), 181-192.