【作者】 叶如兰；

【导师】 张冲；

【作者基本信息】 复旦大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2009， 博士

【副题名】莱斯莉·玛蒙·西尔科与美国印第安身份构建

【摘要】 莱斯莉·玛蒙·西尔科(1948—)是当代美国本土作家中的杰出代表之一,她的第一部小说《典仪》使她成为美国本土文学复兴中的重要领军人物。此后西尔科出版了《死者年鉴》(1991)、《花园沙丘》(1999)两部小说,以及杂文集《黄女及精神之美》(1996)、故事集《说故事的人》(1981)、诗歌集《拉古纳妇女》(1974)、《圣水》(1993)等作品。西尔科的作品形式不拘一格,诗歌、绘画、图片、印第安神话故事与文本融为一体,典型的口述传统、鲜明的土著人物形象使她的作品表现出深厚的本土文化底蕴和强烈的印第安民族意识。作为一个生活在现代美国社会中的印第安混血,西尔科表达了对印第安文化和身份在白人文化中渐渐消逝的担忧,希望通过文学创作使本土文化和身份得以稳固、生存和延续。本论文通过对西尔科的《典仪》、《死者年鉴》、《花园沙丘》三部小说及《说故事的人》和《黄女》两部散文故事集的解读,借助生态女性主义等理论工具,探讨印第安身份在现代社会中构建的问题。第一章分析了本土美国人的身份特点,探讨印第安传统对西尔科和她文学创作产生的影响。主流白人文化正在慢慢渗入印第安人的内心深处,贪婪地吞噬本土文化传统,印第安人不自觉地渐渐被白人文化同化;本土文化和身份面临着消亡的危险。莱斯莉·玛蒙·西尔科以及其他印第安作家用笔杆子维护和坚固印第安传统,强化印第安身份。作品有诸多区别于非本土文学作品的特点,印第安传统文化的浸淫使西尔科的作品明显显现出本土作品的特点。第二章探讨西尔科作品中的印第安传统元素。由于古老的印第安文明没有文字记载的传统,一切历史文化都需要借助记忆来记录。一代代印第安人用口述故事的形式传承着印第安文化,对他们来说,讲故事成了连接过去、现在和将来的锁链。西尔科把自己视为部落、社会和自然的一部分,印第安先人和他们口口相传的故事是她生命的来源。但由于主流文化的侵蚀,印第安文化的口述传统渐渐消失,要留住印第安历史传统,就有必要借助文学写作,将故事记录在案,不但能留住本土文化,让更多人了解本土文化,加强本土身份的意识。通过对印第安文化和传统的追溯,西尔科试图重构现代社会背景下的本土美国人身份,即一种适应发展的具有生命力的综合了多种元素的本土性。第三章通过分析西尔科作品,阐述了印第安人与自然的关联、非线型的时间概念、以及女性形象在印第安传统中的位置,指出强调这些特点有助于将印第安文化从主流文化的大潮中区分出来,独树一帜。西尔科把自己看成本土族群、自然的一部分,她融合了历史的声音、历史的故事;这样的本土作品积聚了足够的能量来稳固本土身份。第四章通过对文本的深入解读和人物的分析,提出西尔科对本土身份的重构是基于传统又超越传统的;对于进退两难,彷徨于本土和白人文化之间的混血的本土美国人来说,狭隘的民族情结和排外态度只会导致印第安身份的最终丧失。印第安文化和身份离不开时代,构建自我身份的良方当是把本土和其他文化揉合为一,与时偕行,不断充实,超越文化和地域的界限。综合考察西尔科的作品后,本文认为西尔科的作品反映了现代本土美国人在现代社会中面临的身份危机,回归印第安传统对寻回本土身份起着至关重要的作用。西尔科在其作品中反复借助口述故事和神话等本土元素、以及印第安人和自然的关联性突出印第安身份和印第安文化的特质及价值,而与主流文化相互融合、和谐共存是充实印第安身份、传承印第安传统的关键。本文提出,西尔科对印第安文化价值和发展模式的探索为本土美国人和其他文化共融、共通点亮了一盏明灯;印第安文化中对自然的崇仰已经不仅局限于印第安这个概念本身,人与人、人与社会、人与自然之间和谐的相互联系和依赖关系是任何一种文化、传统、身份生存发展的基础。更多还原

【Abstract】 Leslie Marmon Silko (1948-), dedicated to the cause of reviving Native American culture, is reputed as one of most prominent contemporary Native American writers. She has integrated strong Indian color to her works by perfectly mixing diversified genres such as poetry, painting, photographs and mythical stories into the literary pieces, by connecting the writing closely to nature, and by implementing oral tradition and storytelling. Her writings reflect a profound understanding of Native American cultural heritage and an intense awareness of Indianness.This dissertation examines how Leslie Marmon Silko, as a Native American author, interprets and reconstructs Indian identity in face of the mainstream white culture. The study focuses on Leslie Marmon Silko’s three novels Ceremony, Almanac, and Gardens in the Dunes, and two of her story collections Storyteller and Yellow Woman and a Beauty of the Spirit. There always appears in her writing a modern Native American generation in the modern world who are at the crossroad of making the choice of where they belong and defining who they are. In each of these books the homing in journey to recollect Indian heritage is an elemental aspect of restoring Indian identity. The use of storytelling and mythology is conductive to the portrayal and recognition of Indianness in Silko’s literary contexts. Ecofeminism is adopted as a crucial tool to demonstrate that harmonious coexistence and syncretism is the way to survival for Indian culture and identity.The first chapter generally identifies the identity formation of Native Americans and the impact of Indian traditions on Leslie Marmon Silko and her writing. The mainstream Euro-American culture, as it penetrates deeper and deeper into the core of the Indian lands, is devouring the Native American heritage. Under such circumstances, Native American culture and identity is severely threatened. Leslie Marmon Silko, along with other Native writers, seeks the cultural survival in the form of literature. The comparative approach applied in the investigation of how Native American literature differs from Euro-American writing facilitates an understanding of strategies employed in Silko’s works.Chapter Two is a close study of Indian traditions as presented in Silko’s writings. In view of the oral tradition, memory is the primary means for Native Americans to keep their history and culture. Indian people tell stories with what they remember when they have heard their elders telling stories. Storytelling creates a chain in time and space that links past, present and future. In the reading of Silko’s storytelling, the dissertation points out that storytelling is essential for Indian culture, but it is even more significant for the storytelling to change with the time so that Native American identity can be much better fitted into the modern Euro-American society.Chapter Three investigates the relationship between the Indians and nature, Indian people’s cyclic time concept, as well as the position of female figures in Native American society, and argues that Silko tries to recollect Native American identity by highlighting the distinct conception of time and nature. Silko sees herself as a composite of community, the natural environment, ancient male and female voices, and all kinds of stories in language combinations.Chapter Four moves toward the more substantive exploration of how, in Silko’s writings, Native American identity can be traced back and how the identity for the hybrid Native Americans who live on the margin in society and are confused where they belong can be reconstituted. The survival and sustenance of Indian culture and identity lie in the open attitude towards other cultures, which helps promote different cultures to merge and enrich each other. Silko blazes a path with tradition, and at the same time, beyond tradition.This dissertation points out that Silko seeks to recollect Indianness by means of self-expression as well as taking in and fusing with other cultural elements. It raises the point that Silko’ s presentation of Indian cultural values and patterns of development, and her approach to maintain Native American identity and vitalize Indian culture, may very well guide Native Americans to a reciprocity and smooth communication among different cultures. The adoration of nature in Indian culture as presented in Silko’s writing reveals that one should realize the importance of harmonious interconnection and interdependence among all peoples and communities.更多还原