【作者】 敬南菲；

【导师】 乔国强；

【作者基本信息】 上海外国语大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2010， 博士

【摘要】 “美国梦”是美国文学研究经久不衰的主题之一。对“美国梦”的理解、实践及评价随着美国社会及其价值观念的变化一直在动态发展着。追寻美国梦的人们,大多是来自世界各地的移民及其后代。其中的犹太移民,由于民族特性和历史原因,呈现出比美国其他族裔的移民更复杂更矛盾的美国梦想。自从十九世纪末犹太移民大规模进入美国至今,他们及其后代的生存和发展正好跨越了二十世纪这一“美国世纪”,见证了这期间美国社会在政治、经济、文化等方方面面的变迁。他们的梦想,也因为时代背景不同、移民年代差异而悄然起了变化。本文选取的三部小说涵盖了四代美国犹太人的经历,而且各部小说反映的犹太移民年代是层层推进的:《应许之地》反映的是第一代犹太移民的生活,《店员》涵盖第一、第二两代移民的悲欢离合,《美国牧歌》则描绘了一个犹太家庭中,第二、第三、第四三代成员迥异的人生。围绕“犹太人的美国梦”这一主题,论文分析上述三部小说中,第一代到第四代犹太人的命运。并以这些人物命运为基础,探索不同历史时期,美国犹太人如何追寻自己的美国梦想,不同时期的移民美国梦的形式有何不同,本质有无区别,结局到底怎样。梦想实现的代价是什么,梦想破灭的原因是什么,这些因素是必然的还是偶然的。论文主体分为三章,按时间顺序分析犹太作家玛丽·安亭的自传体小说《应许之地》,犹太作家伯纳德·马拉默德的小说《店员》以及犹太作家菲利普·罗斯的小说《美国牧歌》。第一章论述对于小说《应许之地》中安亭这样的第一代犹太移民,美国这片“应许之地”怎样成就了他们的梦想,以及梦想背后的重重困难和沉重代价。第二章探索小说《店员》中,第一代犹太移民莫里斯·鲍勃由于“过于犹太”和“不够美国”而无法实现自己的梦想。第二代移民弗兰克·阿尔品在莫里斯德行的感召下,开始了自律向善的新生活,他的美国梦从发财致富演变成了对心灵平静的渴望。美国价值和犹太规约的博弈贯穿于女儿海伦梦想的始终,她坚持凭着犹太的道德观选择生活,却因为受到美国价值的影响而郁郁寡欢。第三章分析《美国牧歌》中,利沃夫这个跨越三代的犹太家庭的寻梦遭遇。祖父娄白手起家,但他犹太式的美国梦好景不长。作为第三代的儿子“瑞典佬”则企图摆脱犹太身份来融入美国主流社会,最终付出惨重代价。第四代孙女梅丽因为在身份认同上没有归属感,而在反对越战的狂热中走向极端。上述三部作品反映了美国犹太人在大半个世纪的时间里,历经四代,对美国梦想的追寻。由于各人物自身的差异,又身处不同的社会时代,他们梦想的发生、发展和结局也大不一样。但形形色色的犹太美国梦想在本质上并没有不同,都包含了美国犹太人对物质丰富和精神满足两方面的追求。这种双重标准也正是犹太人的美国梦想与普通白人强调致富的美国梦之间的区别所在。美国犹太人一方面盼望成为被美国主流社会所接受的多数;另一方面又想保持犹太民族的独特品性。但强调精神至上的犹太信仰与强调世俗成就的美国价值在本质上的对立,使两种愿望无法同时得到满足。因此美国犹太人既盼望融入主流文化,又希望坚持犹太身份的梦想很难实现。更多还原

【Abstract】 This dissertation tries to address the theme of“American Dream”by concentrating on one group of the“American dreamer”—the Jews. Following the struggles of generations of the American Jews on their way to their dreams, the study attempts to find out whether the Jewish pursuit of the“American Dream”is a realistic solution or an imagined illusion, based on the exploration of the three novels written by three American Jewish writers—Mary Antin, Bernard Malamud, and Philip Roth, each representative to her or his own generation.The three novels under discussion as a whole present four generations of American Jewish immigration, with each book one generation further into the American society: Antin’s The Promised Land describes the joys and sorrows of the first generation immigrants; Malamud’s The Assistant concentrates on both the first and second generations; Roth’s American Pastoral tells about the rise and fall of a Jewish family across its second, third, and the fourth generations of family members. The exploration of Jewish pursuit of the“American Dream”in this dissertation focuses on what happens to Jewish immigrants of different generations when they are after their“American Dream”in the above mentioned three novels. The exploration will revolve around such aspects as the contents of the Dream for different generations, the essence of the Dream, the driving force behind the Dream in different historical phrases, how and why they succeed or fail in their endeavor, the costs they pay for and the benefits they get from the Dream.Following a chronological sequence, the dissertation in three chapters discusses the above mentioned books successively. Chapter one deals with the interpretation of The Promised Land, which gives account of how the“American Dream”comes true after a Jewish little girl settles down at this“Promised Land”, and how her spirit of regret and ambivalence runs parallel to her optimism about assimilation. Chapter two centers on the discussion of The Assistant, which tells a story of a Jewish grocer and his assistant, illustrating that the conflict between the morality-oriented Jewish principles and the success-centered American values thwarts the pursuit of the“American Dream”for both the first and second Jewish generations. Chapter three devotes its attention to American Pastoral which depicts the rise and fall of a three-generation Jewish family, focusing on the inevitability of tragedy once the Jews try to achieve the“American Dream”of becoming perfectly assimilated into the Wasp society at the cost of their Jewish roots.Based upon these discussions, the dissertation concludes that different from the general Wasps’“American Dream”primarily built upon the desire for a richer life, the Jewish“American Dream”nurtures itself on the ideal for a better life measured not only by externally material wealth but by internally spiritual fulfillment. This spiritual satisfaction distills down to two aspirations: the Jews’wish to be seen as members in the majority, and their desire to preserve their Jewish identity as a minority. Since they are intrinsically contradictory, the answer to the title question is that the Jewish“American Dream”has to be an unreal illusion rather than a realistic solution. The incompatibility of the fundamental principles in Jewish beliefs and American values predestines the eternal perplexity that the Jews’wish to get integrated into the mainstream American culture stands at odds with their intense desire to keep intact the Jewish legacy.更多还原