【作者】 刘敏霞；

【导师】 虞建华；

【作者基本信息】 上海外国语大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2011， 博士

【摘要】 无论是国内还是国外,和英国哥特小说研究相比,美国哥特小说研究的质与量都非常有限。这主要是因为在1764年哥特小说诞生后的半个多世纪里,英国哥特小说大量涌现,而且特点鲜明,由此导致了学者对美国文学哥特性的质疑。事实上,深受英国哥特小说影响的美国哥特小说在经历了本土化过程后,在文学表现形式和文学诉求上都有了突出的特点。哥特小说关注的核心主题虽然是内心的焦虑和恐惧,但由此认为哥特小说无关政治就太过主观武断。事实上,作为社会产物和历史记录(尽管是间接的)的哥特小说,积极地参与了政治,探讨和反思了社会的方方面面。本文正是通过分析内战前六位作家的哥特小说,阐述了哥特小说对民族身份建构的想象和反思,探讨了民族身份的本质,并表达了对其稳固性及持久性的渴望与担忧。美国哥特小说在本土化并繁荣发展的时期——独立革命到内战前,正是美国民族身份确立的时期,是美利坚各州“合众”(United States)从复数变成单数的时期。也就是说,在这一时期内,美国从无到有,从殖民地到独立,从自由平等的州到由星条旗代表和象征的统一国家。民族身份的研究源于历史、政治、和社会学研究中民族主义的研究,近些年受到文学评论家的关注,并应用到文学研究领域,和历史语境相结合,对文本进行新的解读和阐释。文化历史学家本尼迪克特·安德森认为国家是一种想象的政治共同体。也就是说,一个国家的人由于政治原因获得民族身份后,通过想象自己属于一个共同体、想象着自己拥有属于该共同体的身份而获得归属感。安德森的这一观点强调想象的功能,而想象是文学的特质,正是二者的契合点为本研究提供了灵感。然而,这种通过想象而获得的归属感是动态的,这种身份也不是一成不变的。从早期对民族身份的困惑,到后来对民族身份的担忧和反思,被很多评论家认为无关政治的哥特小说一直在参与民族身份的建构。本文通过分析詹姆斯·库珀的《莱昂内尔·林肯》(1825)、华盛顿·欧文的《瑞普·凡·温克》(1819-1820)、查尔斯·布朗的《威兰》(1798)、纳撒尼尔·霍桑的《福谷传奇》(1852)、爱伦·坡的《阿瑟·戈登·皮姆的故事》(1838)和赫尔曼·麦尔维尔的《皮埃尔》(1852),探讨从独立战争到内战期间美国哥特小说对民族身份建构所进行的想象和反思。本文共由五部分构成。第一部分除了文献综述和概念探讨,还介绍了本研究的理论框架。第二部分通过分析《莱昂内尔·林肯》和《瑞普·凡·温克》解析独立革命后的民族身份困惑;第三部分围绕《威兰》和《福谷传奇》分析哥特小说对国家未来的构想和对民族身份的担忧;第四部分结合美国内战前的政治动荡解析《阿瑟·戈登·皮姆的故事》和《皮埃尔》,阐述内部矛盾对民族身份建构带来的威胁和危害;论文最后得出结论:美国哥特小说反映了美国民族身份认同形成时期的政治混乱和社会变迁,思索和探讨了独立战争后新身份的困惑、民族身份的稳固性和持久性,并表达了对共和国未来的担忧。更多还原

【Abstract】 American Gothic fiction has generally gone unobserved since its birth. In contrast with the articles and books devoted to British Gothic fiction mushrooming in the second half of the twentieth century, study of American Gothic fiction remains limited in quantity and rudimentary in quality mainly due to two reasons: one is that American Gothic fiction varies greatly from the so-called classical Gothic fiction and takes on new characteristics in the process of Americanization; the other is that a considerable number of scholars only see the classical Gothic texts as legitimate, thus denying the existence of American Gothic literature. The once popular view seems rather subjective and arbitrary that the Gothic fiction is apolitical on account of its focal concentration on inner fear and anxiety. Close scrutiny reveals that American Gothic fiction, as part of social product and (indirect) historical record, involves itself in politics and reflects almost every aspect of the society. This dissertation takes six Gothic texts by six antebellum writers as example to analyze how American Gothic fiction of this period addresses problems related to American national identity, in particular, its nature, stability, and endurance.The transformative and formative decades between the Revolution and the Civil War witnessed the harassing perplex caused by identity crisis and the disquieting process during which the United States evolved from a union of free and equal states to a unified and sovereign nation emblematized by the Stripes and Stars, and more importantly, the recognition of the national identity as American. Scholarly interest in national identity originates from the study of nation and nationalism in the fields of history, politics, and sociology. It merits attention from literary scholars, who apply it to the interpretation of literary texts. Cultural historian Benedict Anderson proposes that“nation”is an imagined political community. Namely, members of a nation develop sense of belonging by imaging that they are part of the same community. National identity is something fixed and fluid at the same time and the sense of belonging is not developed once and for all. A focal point of Anderson’s proposition is imagination, the very source to which literature also resorts for its existence. And it is this coincidence that inspired the author of this thesis.This dissertation aims to explore how the antebellum Gothic fiction addresses problems in relation to national identity based on an analysis of Lionel Lincoln (1825),“Rip Van Winkle”(1819-1820), Wieland (1798), The Blithedale Romance (1852), The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym from Nantucket (1838), and Pierre; or the Ambiguities (1852). The dissertation is divided into five parts. The first part briefly introduces the Americanization of British Gothic fiction and the theoretical framework of this dissertation apart from a review of the study of national identity and antebellum Gothic fiction. It is followed by an interpretation of Lionel Lincoln and“Rip Van Winkle”to reveal the perplexity caused by identity crisis which harassed the early Americans. The next part deals with the fluidity of national identity based on an analysis of Wieland and The Blithedale Romance, which is followed by the study of The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym from Nantucket and Pierre; or the Ambiguities to discuss how the Gothic fiction articulates the national desire and anxiety for a stable national identity menaced by the internal conflicts. After close examination of the confusion caused by identity crisis and the nature of national identity, it finally concludes that American Gothic fiction reflects the political turbulence and social changes of the formative decades between the Revolution and the Civil War and articulates the worries and anxiety about the future of the young republic.更多还原