【作者】 籍晓红；

【导师】 殷企平；

【作者基本信息】 浙江大学 ， 比较文学与世界文学， 2009， 博士

【副题名】索尔·贝娄中后期五部小说对后工业社会人类生存困境的揭示

【摘要】 针对以往评论界未能将文化批评理论应用于索尔·贝娄小说批评的现状,本文试图从文化批评的视角切入,探讨贝娄中后期几部小说的现实意义和独特价值,揭示贝娄小说所反映的后工业社会的人类生存困境。本论文结合这些小说所反映的时代背景,从贝娄作品对后工业时代社会问题的表现这一角度来切入,将其小说置于后工业、后现代语境下来考察,运用丹尼尔·贝尔的后工业社会理论、鲍德里亚、齐美尔等人的消费社会理论和拉康的符号理论等,来分析贝娄作品中的消费主义和拜金现象的社会根源、小说所表现的消费社会背景下人们身上所体现出的物质追求和精神追求之间的矛盾以及由此导致的精神危机。同时,笔者试图从心理分析的角度入手,运用快乐原则和道德原则,深入分析贝娄的作品。所有这些分析旨在表明,贝娄笔下的人物自我身份的丧失,象征着商品经济大潮下人文精神的失落。索尔·贝娄对后工业社会人类生存困境的揭示首先表现为人的“物化”。《更多的人死于心碎》这部小说生动地展现了一幅后工业社会的消费图景,表现了“以消费为灵魂”的后工业社会人们的生活,以及那些异化了的“单向度的人”,对享乐主义和消费道德观进行了鞭鞑,贝娄将消费主义的批判提升到了文化的维度和人文关怀的高度。“物化”只是异化的一种。其他异化现象也在贝娄笔下得到了生动的揭示。例如,《赫索格》深刻地表现了后工业社会人的异化感,表现了人与自我、人与人、人与社会、人与自然等种种异化关系。贝娄以他自己的方式对这种关系做出了注解。在他的笔下,工业化和城市化的进程让人与自然的关系变成了一种消费关系,让人与人的关系失去了亲情与爱情。贝娄的作品是对这种不再和谐的关系的一种悲悼。贝娄的小说表现了人们对成功(即名利、地位)的追逐,以及由此造成的悲剧。在《洪堡的礼物》中,后工业社会犹如一个名利场。该书揭示了现实主义者的“进步神话”和理想主义者的失败困境,以及现实主义和理想主义两种价值观之间的裂变。小说整个结构呈现为一种悖论叙事,这使小说具有了深度和复杂性。在这部小说里,贝娄解构了一个由享乐主义支配的社会,他不仅批判人们对成功的盲目追逐,而且对一个“由理性和进步确定的技术世界”表示深恶痛绝。《院长的十二月》和《赛姆勒先生的行星》这两部小说展现了一个后工业“荒原”社会,字里行间渗透着对文明的忧思、对灵魂的关注、对道德的焦虑、对存在意义的追问,以及贝娄所具有的独特的“情感信念”。这两部小说是他对后工业消费社会人类生存困境的的一种反拨,是他在解构的同时进行的一种积极建构。贝娄对现代技术和文明进行了深刻的批判。他反对一味地强调科技进步,反对忽略人的精神建设。他认为科技进步并不一定能给人带来幸福和快乐。贝娄对科技进步与专家制度的质疑,契合了当今物质丰裕的社会状况下人文精神的衰微、人们的幸福感缺席这一现象。贝娄还对后工业社会科技的进步和文明的演进与文化的衰落之间的关系作出了深刻的反思。在上述五部小说中,贝娄对人类价值观的变迁进行了深入的探讨。他不但反对人们对技术进步的盲目追求,以及对科学的崇拜,而且还关注文化的命运,希望恢复文学、艺术等人文学科应有的地位。贝娄的作品始终充满了人文主义关怀。以赫索格为代表的人物表现了贝娄的思考和彷徨。贝娄注意到了后工业社会里形而上学和道德观念的日趋式微。他的几部小说都表现了他对人类一些永恒的哲学命题的思考,表达了他对人类的前途、命运、道德、精神状态,人生终极意义等重大问题的关注,比如自我认同、道德与真理、个体与群体等问题。贝娄对这些形而上问题的哲学思考是他对后工业社会消费主义和物质主义作出的回应和反拨,也是他对后工业社会的“无深度”、“中心消解”和“情感消逝”现象的一种拯救。贝娄深刻地揭示了一个后工业的“荒原”社会,然而,面对满目疮痍的后工业文明,贝娄始终保持着乐观、积极的态度,他具有一种“情感信念”,他的小说渗透着一种乌托邦情怀,表现了一种文学理想主义。索尔·贝娄拒绝虚无,他永远对绝望说“不”。他对人类的未来充满信心。他的作品在诊治后工业人类社会的疾病和挽救人类濒危的信仰方面具有积极的意义和永恒的价值。他的批评观点在当今世界的嘈杂之中敲响了清澈之音。他试图“避免滑向或跌入乌托邦的幻想之中”,为人类走出后现代困境找到一条道路。如何找到根治当代都市病症的灵丹妙药?如何使孤独的个体找到群体的归属感?如何拯救失去心灵家园的现代人?随着对这些问题的追问,记忆、精神和信念的重要性在贝娄的作品中凸显出来。贝娄的作品充满了“外来人”内心深处挥之不去的对家园的怀恋,充满了对“逝去的辉煌”的缅怀。贝娄笔下表现的不仅仅是人物在地理位置上的被“流放”,更是心理意义上的被放逐。贝娄表现了游离于美国主流社会之外的犹太移民的生存境遇。然而,他所表现的犹太人的身份危机问题是超越时代的、典型的,具有永恒的价值和社会意义。贝娄还为丧失了家园、在荒原中挣扎着的人类开出医治后现代疾病的药方。他用审美的、历史的、传统的以及人道主义的情感来使处于失乐园中的当代人类获得精神救赎。贝娄用艺术与诗(文学)来拯救人们的精神。大自然是其小说主人公获得审美救赎的另一个力量来源。他以亲近自然、厌恶城市来表达他对消费主义的抵制。他在“未受工业文明熏陶”的淳朴的小镇体验到了“精神的还乡”。贝娄通过回归犹太文化传统、坚持犹太人的优良品质和道德价值观,使处于后工业、后现代社会困境中的人类获得历史和哲学意义上的救赎。他用人道主义的情感来对抗“爱的缺席”。他笔下的人物在对他人的“敞开”之中获得了超越。他们通过建构或融入社群关系,走出了异化,赋予人生以崭新的意义。他们通过学会博爱,将生命的价值提升到了新的高度。带着理想和信念一路走来,索尔·贝娄经历了从失落到回归的心路历程,他的内心一直充满着寻找人类家园的渴望,他的身上体现了知识分子的矛盾和困惑。他所塑造的主人公典型地体现出理想和现实的矛盾冲突。贝娄的小说表现了文学的超验意义以及人文学科对人类精神的救赎,体现出一颗流浪灵魂的一种乡愁意识,表现出一种乌托邦情怀和文学理想主义,一个无处不在的“求索”主题,以及一种对人生意义的诉求。在一个消费至上、娱乐至死、道德滑坡的时代,索尔·贝娄对精神的关注、对精神家园的追寻和敢于直面人类灵魂的精神,以及他开出的救赎方案,无不显示了一代文学大师的人道主义关怀。他一生都行走在梦想与现实之间。更多还原

【Abstract】 Since the previous Bellow critics have seldom applied the cultural critical therory, this thesis seeks to analyze Bellow’s novels from the perspective of cultural criticism, discussing the realistic significance and unique value of the 5 novels written by Bellow in his mid-late writing career. This thesis attempts to study the existential dilemma of humanity in the post-industrial society represented in Bellow’s novels. Setting his novels against the broad social background and in the the post-industial and post-modern context, this thesis applies the social theories of Daniel Bell, Baudrillard and Simmel, and the semiotic theory of Lacan to examine the representation of the social problems, especially the social origin of the money-worship phenomenon and consumerism, the contradiction between the pursiut of the material and that of the spirit in the consumer society represented in the the novels. Meanwhile, the present thesis applies the psycho-analytical theory to analyze Bellow’s novels. For example, it applies the moral principle and the pleausure principle to analyze the psychology and deeds of the protagonists and find that, stimulated by money and pleasure, the "id" in human beings which is controlled by the pleausure principle takes upper hand, leading to the loss of the true self. The loss of self identity of the intellectuals in Bellow’s novels signifies the loss of humanistic spirit in the waves of commodity economy.Three aspects of the dilemma of humanity in a post-industrial society are given prominent treatment in Bellow’s novels.Firstly, the reification phenomenon. The novel More Die of Heartbreak depicts a picture of excessive consumption in the post-industrial society, represents the life of the " one-dimentional men " who " take consumption as their soul " and criticizes hedonism and the consumer ethics. The criticism of consumerism of Bellow attains a height of cultural dimension and humanistic concern.Secondly, the phenomenon of alienation. This is vividly represented in the novel Herzog. This novel delineates the alienated relationship between human beings and themselves, human beings and society, and human beings and nature. Bellow explains the relationship of human beings with society and nature in his own way. He suggests that industrilization and urbanization have turned the relationship between men and nature into one of consuming and being consumed. As for the interpersonal relationship, love and intimacy have been replaced by alienation and estrangement. In this sense, this novel is a lament for the never-more-harmonious relationship between men and nature, men and society.Thirdly, the tragedy caused by the blind pursuit of "success". The novel Humbolts’ Gift tells "a tale of progress" of a realist and a story of the decline of an idealist, and describes the conflict between realistic values and idealistic values. The whole story is presented within a paradoxical narrative structure, which makes the novel more complex and profound. In this novel, Bellow tries to deconstruct the post-industrial society dominated by hedonism. He not only criticizes the blind pursuit of success of people, but also shows hatred for the world defined by rationality and " progress".The two novels Dean’s December and Mr.Sammler’s Planet reflect the writer Bellow’s concern for civilization and culture, human spirit and soul, his anxiety over the decline of morality, his probe into the meaning of existence, and the special "emotional conviction" Bellow has. These two novels demonstrate his deconstruction as well as reconstruction of the post-industrial society. Here his response to the post-industrial society is manifest.Bellow attacks modern technology and civilization. He is against the emphasis of the development of sicence and technology at the cost of the neglect of spiritual construction. He thinks that the development of science and technology will not definitely bring happiness and joy to human kind. He doubts the specialists institution, ponders on the decline of humanistic spirit and laments the absence of the sense of happiness of modern men.Bellow reflects deeply on the relationship between the progress of science and technology and the degeneration of culture in the post-industrial society. In his novels, he investigates thoroughly the influence of the instrumental rationality, the development of science and technology and the social progress on culture and human sciences, as well as the evolution of human values. He is against the blind pursuit of technological development and the excessive worship for science. He is concerned about the fate of culture and hopes to restore humanities, such as literature and art to their deserved place.Bellow’s novels are characterized by a humanistic concern. His protagonists represented by Herzog reflects Bellow’s thoughts and perplexity. He has noticed the increasing decline of metaphisics and moral values in the post-industrial society. His novels concern some ultimate peoblems, such as self identity, morality and truth, individuality and community, etc. His philosophical reflections on these problems reveal his response to materialism and consumerism in the post-industrial society. This also shows his redemption of the postmodern problems such as the disappearance of feeling, the disintegration of communities, and the lack of depth.Bellow depicts a post-industrial wasteland world. However, in the face of the ruined civilization, he still maitains a conviction, optimistic and positive. His novels are penetrated with a Utopian complex and a literary idealism. He resists nihility and never says "no". He is confident of a promising future of human culture and civilization. His novels are helpful and have eternal value in diagnosing and curing the illness of the post-modern human society and saving the endangered beliefs of the human kind. His critical views sound extremely clear in the superficial and noisy contemporary world. However, he tries to evade to slip or fall into "the Utopian fantasy" and help the human being to find a way out of the postmodern dilemma. How to find a panacea to cure the sickness of contemporary metropolitans? How to help the lonely individual find a sense of belonging to community? How to save the modern men who have lost their spiritual homeland? Here, the importance of memory, spirit and conviction is stressed in Bellow’s novels.Bellow’s novels are permeated with a kind of lingering nostalgia of "the strangers" for their homeland, full of the memory of the past glories. What Bellow represents is not only their exile in the geographical sense, but also their banishment in the psychological sense. He describes the situation of the jewish immigrants who drift away from the mainstream American society, yet what he renders is not only a jewish identity crisis , but also a typical, trans-epochal universal problem of humanity.Bellow has found a therapy for the consumer society and the human kind who have lost their paradise and struggle in the post-industrial wasteland world. He helps the modern men to realize their spiritual redemption with the aid of art, nature and the jewish cultural tradition. To Bellow, art, poem (literature) and nature are the means of redemption. He resists consumersim, dislikes cities, but gets close to nature. Like Thoreau, Bellow experiences "the spiritual tranquility " in the simple cottage in a small town which is never polluted by the industrial civilization. For Bellow art and nature are sources of the aesthetic redemption, while the jewish tradition is the source of historical and philosophical redemption. Bellow antagonizes the absence of feeling with the humanistic sentiments. His protagonists obtain transcendence in their being "open" to others, that is, they try to get out of alienation through involving in brotherhood, community, thus making their life more meaningful. In other words, they learn to make their life more significant through universal fraternity------to love others and humanity.With his ideal and conviction, Bellow embarks on a psychological pilgrimage, passing through the sense of loss to the sense of belonging. He is always longing for a spiritual homeland. He illustrates the contradiction and confusion of the intellectuals whose inner world represent the conflict between the ideal and the reality. His novels expound the transcendental meaning of literarature and the redemption function of humanities. His novels express a "quest" theme, a sense of nostalgia for the homeland of a straying soul, a Utopian complex, a literary idealism, and a yeaning for the meaning of life.In an age when consumerism prevails and morality declines and when people are mad for recreation, Bellow’s concen for human spirit and soul, his search for the eternal truth, his daring spirit to face squarely the existential problems and human folly, his trial to prescribe a therapy for the illness of the post-industrial society, all show the humanistic concern of a great master of literature. In a word, Bellow walks between the ideal and the reality.更多还原