event.

When a character enters a church to sight-see and the interior of

the church is presented during its tour, there is no interruption. Spatial
indications are always durative (an extreme case of iteration). After all,
a permanent object is always involved. In this sense, too, the chronology
is always disrupted by spatial indications. Moreover, information
con cerning space is often repeated, to stress the stability of the frame, as
opposed to the transitory nature of the events that occur within it.
Information
As I have said before, space is always implicitly neces sary for every activity
performed by a character. If a character is cycling, we know that
it is outside and is riding on a path or a road. We assume that it sleeps
in a bed. In fact, if the information is added that it is sleep ing soundly,
then we assume that the bed is warm and comfortable.
There are various ways of explicitly presenting information about
space. Sometimes a very short indication, without details, is suffi cient:
c At home, John puts down the shopping-bag, with a sigh.
d As soon as he had shut the door, John placed the shopping-bag
underneath the coat-rack.
In c the indication of space is minimal; we only know that John is again
inside, in his own home. Earlier presentations of that house will determine
whether we are able to visualize in a more or less detailed way
what the space is like in which he is situated. In d we know more, even