麦尔维尔论文：麦尔维尔波利尼西亚三部曲中的身份困惑【中文摘要】赫尔曼.麦尔维尔(1819-1891)是美国文学史上最重要的作家之一,由于其思想超越了他当时所处的时代,从美国内战到第一次世界大战结束,麦尔维尔差不多完全被人们所遗忘。
而今,他已成为美国被广泛阅读,经常研讨的作家之一,为人们所尊敬。
虽然麦尔维尔的作品在19世纪40年代到50年代间达到高峰,但他的著作带有明显的现代主义意义。
评论家已经从不同角度对他所表现的世界,他的思想以及他的作品对后世的影响做了大量的研究。
但评论家们较少涉及他早期海洋小说的文化差异问题。
本论文致力于表述麦尔维尔对于美国对外扩张的关注,对于被扭曲表现的东方的态度,以及对东西方关系的探寻。
本论文将探讨他在东西方文化中面临的文化困惑。
在以“后”字开头的种种现代批评术语中(后现代主义尤为突出),后殖民批评已变得日益重要。
后殖民批评从本质上讲是一种在新的历史环境下重新看待东西方关系的思想思潮。
在1978年,爱得华·w·萨义德在其《东方主义》一书中揭示出东西方间的关系是一种力量上的控制关系,一种不同程度上复杂的霸权主义。
王宁教授认为后殖民主义首先是一种思考方式,一种更加复杂的思维方式。
虽然各批评家采用的方法有所不同,但他们都批判东方主义—一种反映在政治,社会生活和文学作品中西方对东方深刻的偏见。
后殖民批评深刻分析了帝国主义的文化入侵和调控超级大国与其他国家关系的隐形结构。
后殖民主义批评的学术价值促使我在论文中采用了这一方法。
本论文将分析麦尔维尔在其作品中表现出的对于东方被扭曲的形象,东方被剥夺的话语权力的态度以及作者在南海三部曲中面临的文化困惑。
本文由四章组成,论述后殖民语境下麦尔维尔对于东西方的文化差异产生的文化困惑。
第一章简要叙述了麦尔维尔的生平创作,国内外对于麦尔维尔的研究,从后殖民视角阐述了后殖民主义在麦尔维尔波利尼西亚三部曲中的表现,最后交代论文的结构。
第二章由五个小标题组成,从不同的角度阐述了麦尔维尔文化困惑的表现。
第三章则集中分析了麦尔维尔产生困惑的原因。
最后一章是结论,麦尔维尔的困惑主要还是他潜意识里的帝国主义情结,在与土著的交往中,小说作者先入为主,以西方的标准来判断“他者”,这是他面临东西方差异时困惑的根源。
本论文探讨麦尔维尔作品中一直为评论家所忽视的后殖民因素,对于这一因素的探讨有利于更好地解析其作品。
分析其作品中的后殖民主义因素有助于理解他的民主思想和他对于殖民地压迫的强烈反对。
他深刻地分析了殖民扩张在文化与思想领域的负面作用,但也由于自身的局限,他对东西方的文化差异感到困惑。
西方对东方的压迫只能使西方自身走向毁灭,解决的方法在于东西方互相尊重方的差异和睦相处。
【英文摘要】Melville is one of the most significant writers in American literature; however, for his thinking was beyond the time he completely fell into oblivion from civil war to the First World War. Now, he is widely read and studied. Although most of him works were written in the middle of the 19th century,sensitivity of modernism is still can be found. Literary critics have studied him and his works from different perspective while little has been written in his early South Sea stories. The thesis strives to demonstrate the author’s confusion in American’s over seas expansion.Among contemporary criticisms beginning with “post”, post colonial criticism is of considerable significance. In 1978, Edward W. Said exposed that the relations between Orient and Occident is one of power, of domination, of varying degrees of a complex hegemony in his Orientalism. Despite the diverse techniques, critics all criticize Orientalism, which is the deep-rooted bias of the west against the east in politics, social lives and literary works. Post-colonialism analyses imperial invasion in culture and the invisible pattern between super powers and other countries. Its pragmatic functions initiate me to choose in the thesis. The thesis will explore Melville’s attitude towards the distorted images and the deprivation of discourse of the east, especially the writer’s cultural confusion in his Polynesian Trilogy.This dissertation consists of four chapters. Chapter one is a brief introduction to Melville’s life and his experience, theme and theory used in this dissertation as well as the study on this field domestic and abroad. Chapter two,which is about to be composed of five sub-titles, expounds the cultural conflict and bewilderment of identity from different angles. Chapter three elaborates the causes of Melville’s bewilderment, or to be specific, his bewilderment is due to the conflicts of values and his personal experiences. The last chapter is the conclusion in which the thesis of post colonialism and Melville’s works are discussed. The thesis which has been ignored by most researchers expounds the post colonialism in Melville’s works and it would be more conducive to a downright interpretation of his works. It helps us to understand his ideology and strong protest against exploitation and suppression over colonies. He criticizes the negative effects of colonial expansion culturally and ideologically, meanwhile, he was restricted by the time and felt confused about the disparity between the eastern and western cultures. The conflicts between colonizers and the colonized may remind us in the world today that the best solution lies in the harmonious coexistence and mutual respect.【关键词】麦尔维尔文化困惑后殖民主义他者【英文关键词】Melville cultural confusion post-colonialism the Other image【目录】麦尔维尔波利尼西亚三部曲中的身份困惑Acknowledgements4-5Abstract5-6摘要7-9Contents9-10Chapter One Introduction10-241.1 A Brief Introduction to Melville’s Works and His Polynesian Trilogy10-151.2 Literature Review on the Studies of Polynesian Trilogy Abroad and Home15-191.3 Post-Colonialism and Melville’s Polynesian Trilogy19-231.3.1 Basic Concepts of Post-colonialism20-211.3.2 Justification for Applying Post-colonialism to Melville’s Polynesian Trilogy21-231.4 Structure of This Dissertation23-24Chapter Two Cultural Confusion in Melville’s PolynesianTrilogy24-372.1 Confusion between Civilization and Savageness24-282.1.1 Stereotypes of Savages from the Colonizer’s Perspective24-262.1.2 Confusion between Actual Experiences and Western Stereotyping26-282.2 Confusion between the Wicked American Society and the Innocent South-Sea Paradise28-312.3 Confusion between the Benevolent Purpose and Malign Influence of Missionary31-332.4 Impossibility in Choosing between the Two Cultures33-352.5 Tragic Wonderers in Search of Destiny in Mardi35-37Chapter Three Causes of Melville’s Confusion37-423.1 Personal Factors37-393.2 Social Factors39-42Chapter Four Conclusion42-44WorksCited44-46Publications46。
