赛珍珠中国农村题材小说的“土地主题”研究

【作者】 魏兰；

【导师】 姚君伟；

【作者基本信息】 南京师范大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2013， 博士

【摘要】 美国女作家赛珍珠的中国农村题材作品丰富多彩,直到今天仍有强大的艺术感染力和文化生命力,具有研究的当代性价值。其作品中“土地意象”的多重展示,以及寓于其中的中国“农民和土地”主题,和谐地构成了一个独具特色的文本世界。面对赛珍珠中国题材作品的浩莽浑然,本文无法作全景式把握,而仅把注意力集中在赛珍珠几部主要的中国农村题材作品中,包括《大地三部曲》、《母亲》、《龙子》和《同胞》。本文拟在已有研究成果的基础上,从赛珍珠“文化边缘人”视野中的“土地意象”入手,对赛珍珠的主要中国农村题材作品进行“土地主题”的归纳和文本解读。本文试图剖析：身为“文化边缘人”的赛珍珠在跨国界的生活、跨文化的创作中,心系中国土地和农民,以人类的理性指引小说创作,把个人对中国人和中国文化的理解凝聚在“人与土地的关系”这一中心话语上,进而再现了中华民族在农耕文明时代对土地的深切眷恋。当作家触摸“人与土地”这一古老的文化命题时,已经超越了仅仅针对目标读者群——西方读者这一局限,进而对不同民族的“土地情结”进行了联系性思考。当创作激情催发为创作,即展示了中国农村题材小说所具有的世界性品质——身为“异乡人”、“文化边缘人”的作家在“父国”的土地上安放自己精神家园的同时,亦站在人类共性的高度进行着她的小说创作。进一步说,赛珍珠作品中的“土地主题”呼应“和谐共生”的人与人、人与世界、民族与民族之间的新型关系,与作家在创作中一以贯之的文化和合主义价值观彼此印证,在当今全球化语境中亦有标新立异的前瞻意义。因此,从“土地情结”这一主题层面考证,赛氏作品不能不说是一种文学突破或文化突破。本论文分导言、正文和结语三个部分。导言中,首先介绍赛珍珠的平民主义创作及中国情怀,提出本论文的研究主旨、研究思路及全文框架；然后循着由远及今的思路,对国内外赛珍珠研究的历史与现状进行总括性的归纳论述,并阐明本论文选题的学术价值和现实意义。第一章追溯纵向跨文化时空中的“中国形象”变迁,引入赛珍珠独特的乡土中国书写；第二章在文本细读的基础上,通过赛珍珠中国农村题材作品中的“土地意象”展现,对“土地主题”进行逐层剖析和归纳；第三章以作品中的“土地情结”为契机,探索赛珍珠作品中人与人、人与外部世界的互动,从而展示中国乡土社会的文化风貌；第四章在乡土文学的范畴内,将赛珍珠与同时代的中国乡土作家作了横向对比；第五章立足“异乡人”、“文化边缘人”的层面,剖析赛珍珠在跨越两个世界的“土地主题”书写中,建构多元文化身份的积极努力,从而实现其文化和合主义的理想诉求。结语部分回顾本文的主要内容,并重申主要结论：由于“文化边缘人”的独具慧眼,具有普世人类学意义的“土地主题”构成了赛珍珠“生命主题”的重中之重,从而反映了作者毕生追求的文化和合主义理念。因此,从文化和文学比较的层面来看,赛珍珠的土地主题研究具有深层的意义。结语部分还提出后续研究的设想,即赛珍珠的土地主题、平民主义创作观与“文化”的原初意义和隐喻意义不谋而合。基于此认识,笔者试图在日后的研究实践中,以本论文的研究成果为基础,在现当代跨文化语境中,进一步评价赛珍珠跨国书写及文化沟通的隐喻意义和现实价值。更多还原

【Abstract】 Focusing on the countryside of China, Pearl Buck’s works with the Chinese peasant life as their subject matter remain vigorous and influential in current literary studies. With the demonstration of land image in various aspects, together with the theme of land embodied in her works, a harmonious and self-sufficient text world has emerged in the history of world literature.In the face of such a giant realm of novels, it is beyond the author’s capability to offer a comprehensive description and analysis of her works. Instead, the author tries to concentrate on the four major masterworks featuring the Chinese peasant life:The Good Earth Trilogy, Dragon Seed, Kinfolk, and the Mother. Based on the previous studies, the present dissertation begins with the land image reflected in Pearl S. Buck’s peasantry works, and aims to interpret her novels from the perspective of her position as a marginalizer, and hence draw some conclusions in terms of land themes.As a cultural marginalizer, Pearl S. Buck is always deeply concerned with the China’s peasants and land in her inter-culture writing. Guided by human reasoning, her writing reveals her understanding of Chinese people and culture, which is fully embodied in her description of the relationship between human beings and land, thereby illustrating the deep love of Chinese people for their land in the agrarian age.Preoccupied with the ancient cultural topic of "human and land", the writer considers the Land Complex of different peoples and offers a comparative analysis to her readers. In this way, her writings reveal the common concern with land of human beings as a whole even though she focuses on the specific settings of China, her Fatherland, thus enriching her works with universal significance. What’s more, Pearl S.Buck appeals a new relationship of harmonious co-existence between human beings, between man and nature, as well as between different peoples, which is embodied in the Idea of Cultural Harmony in her novels.This dissertation is composed of three parts:introduction, main body and conclusion. The introduction deals with Pearl S. Buck’s populist writing and her deep-rooted attachment with China, as well as the target, method of analysis and the framework of this dissertation. Then briefly introduces the previous and current studies of Pearl S. Buck and her works home and abroad, as well as the academic and realistic meanings of this dissertation. Five chapters constitute the second part. The first chapter traces the historic transformation of image of China, which ultimately leads to the unique description of rural China by Pearl S. Buck. Chapter Two analyses and summarizes the land image and land theme on the basis of a detailed reading of the four masterpieces. Chapter Three is to demonstrate the rural society of China by interpreting the interaction between human beings and between man and nature in the novels. The fourth chapter makes a comparative analysis between Pearl S. Buck and her contemporary Chinese local writers who also focus their writings on Chinese peasant life. In Chapter Five, the author tries to reveal Pearl S. Buck’s effort to build her multi-cultural identity in her intercultural writings of land themes, which ultimately realizes her aspiration of cultural harmony.The third part reviews and readdresses the major conclusions:the unique insight of this cultural marginalizer makes the theme of land with a universal anthropological meaning the emphasis of her works, illustrating her life pursuit of cultural harmony. Therefore, the study of her land complex is fundmentally meaningful in terms of culture and literature. Finally some ideas concerning the follow-up studies are offered in this part. Based on this dissertation, the author is to focus on the Land Complex, populist writing, and the original and metaphorical meaning of culture, conducting a further research on the realistic and metaphorical meaning of Pearl S. Buck’s cross-cultural writing and communication in a modern context.更多还原