绽放在哥特花园中的一朵奇葩：论弗兰纳里·奥康纳小说的哥特艺术
摘要
弗兰纳里·奥康纳是二战后美国南方颇具影响力的女作家,在小说和短篇小说领域都卓有成就。她的小说秉承了霍桑、福克纳等南方作家的哥特写作传统,并且因其浓重的宗教色彩,形成了独特的艺术风格,受到读者和批评家的广泛关注。奥康纳在吸收了传统哥特文学创作精华的同时,在不断的实践过程也取得了一定的革新与突破。该论文立足于美国南方文学中的哥特传统研究奥康纳小说的哥特艺术,并将其与传统哥特小说的写作手法加以对比。该论文正文分为四章。
第一章详细介绍美国文学中的哥特写作传统。首先对“哥特”一词的含义及哥特小说的发展历史进行梳理,在此基础上概括出哥特小说的艺术特色和审美特征。南方文艺复兴时期,美国南方因其独特的历史背景和地域特色成为哥特小说繁衍生息的沃土,南方哥特自成一派,富有鲜明的特征。第二章从哥特主题和哥特情节两个方面对奥康纳作品中哥特因素的巧妙运用进行探索。在她的作品中,血腥的暴力和死亡成为她一脉相承的主题范式,超自然因素、恐怖的气氛和怪诞的人物等哥特情节也给小说蒙上了一层神秘的面纱。第三章论述了美国南方本土文化对奥康纳作品产生的影响。她创作哥特式作品主要与当代西方宗教信仰的缺失密切相关,与美国南方社会历史的发展密不可分,同时也深受其个人的不幸生活经历的影响。第四章综合上述分析,归纳出奥康纳对南方哥特小说的发展与创新。她的小说大多都是悲剧和喜剧的混合体,且具有相似的主题,总是通过暴力表现死亡以达到救赎的目的。作品中的人物形象怪诞复杂,具有多面性格。在叙事技巧方面,奥康纳以各种绝妙手法营造了意味深长的象征意象,使小说有限的篇幅获得了无限丰富的内涵。
总之,奥康纳的哥特艺术,既有传统性又有创新性。她把从南方哥特传统中吸取的丰富的艺术营养同自己的宗教观和独特的写作手法结合起来探索和表现美国南方的社会和历史,揭示了文明社会中存在的信仰危机和价值危机,从而客观上起到了警醒世人的作用。她不仅仅为南方人写作,而是为整个人类写作,这也是对她做进一步研究的必要性和重要意义之所在。
Flannery O'Connor is one of the most influential woman writers in American South after World War II. She achieved great successes in the field of novels and short stories. Her works, inheriting the Gothic writing tradition from Southern writers like Hawthorne and Faulkner, have developed a unique artistic style and received much attention from both critics and common readers for their strong religious flavor. O'Connor not merely embraced the essence of traditional Gothic literature, but also made some breakthroughs. This thesis, based on Gothic tradition of American Southern literature, focuses on O'Connor's Gothic art, and makes a comparison between her Gothic and traditional Gothic. The body of the thesis is divided into four chapters.
Chapter One gives a detailed account of Gothic writing tradition in American literature. To begin with, it traces the origin of the word "Gothic" and the development of Gothic fiction. On this basis, the artistic features and aesthetic characteristics are generalized. During the period of Southern Renaissance, American South, with its unique history and culture, has offered a fertile land for the Gothic novel to survive and grow. Sothern Gothic fiction became one independent literary genre by its distinctive features. Chapter Two focuses on O'Connor's creative use of Gothic elements from two levels of Gothic motifs and plot. In her works, bloody violence and death is her common themes. The supernatural elements, horrible atmosphere, and grotesque characters also lend mystery to her works. Chapter Three presents the influence of American native culture on O'Connor's works. The creation of Gothic works keeps close ties with the lacking of religious beliefs in modern Western society, with the development of American society and history, as well as with her unfortunate personal life experience. Chapter Four explores O'Connor's innovation to Southern Gothic fictions. Most of her novels are the mixture of tragedy and comedy and share similar themes, aiming at realizing redemption by characters'violence followed by death. And also her freak characters are round and full of life. As for narrative techniques, the employment of a number of meaningful symbolic objects makes her stories more vivid and moving.
In short, O'Connor's Gothic art is both traditionally and innovatively. Combining Southern Gothic tradition with her religious point of view and unique writing techniques together, she intends to explore the society and history of American South. In her works, O'Connor exposes the lacking of beliefs and values and thus awake human being to the reality. She creates not only for Southerners but for the whole human beings, which shows the importance of further study on her and her writings as well.
第一章详细介绍美国文学中的哥特写作传统。首先对“哥特”一词的含义及哥特小说的发展历史进行梳理,在此基础上概括出哥特小说的艺术特色和审美特征。南方文艺复兴时期,美国南方因其独特的历史背景和地域特色成为哥特小说繁衍生息的沃土,南方哥特自成一派,富有鲜明的特征。第二章从哥特主题和哥特情节两个方面对奥康纳作品中哥特因素的巧妙运用进行探索。在她的作品中,血腥的暴力和死亡成为她一脉相承的主题范式,超自然因素、恐怖的气氛和怪诞的人物等哥特情节也给小说蒙上了一层神秘的面纱。第三章论述了美国南方本土文化对奥康纳作品产生的影响。她创作哥特式作品主要与当代西方宗教信仰的缺失密切相关,与美国南方社会历史的发展密不可分,同时也深受其个人的不幸生活经历的影响。第四章综合上述分析,归纳出奥康纳对南方哥特小说的发展与创新。她的小说大多都是悲剧和喜剧的混合体,且具有相似的主题,总是通过暴力表现死亡以达到救赎的目的。作品中的人物形象怪诞复杂,具有多面性格。在叙事技巧方面,奥康纳以各种绝妙手法营造了意味深长的象征意象,使小说有限的篇幅获得了无限丰富的内涵。
总之,奥康纳的哥特艺术,既有传统性又有创新性。她把从南方哥特传统中吸取的丰富的艺术营养同自己的宗教观和独特的写作手法结合起来探索和表现美国南方的社会和历史,揭示了文明社会中存在的信仰危机和价值危机,从而客观上起到了警醒世人的作用。她不仅仅为南方人写作,而是为整个人类写作,这也是对她做进一步研究的必要性和重要意义之所在。
Flannery O'Connor is one of the most influential woman writers in American South after World War II. She achieved great successes in the field of novels and short stories. Her works, inheriting the Gothic writing tradition from Southern writers like Hawthorne and Faulkner, have developed a unique artistic style and received much attention from both critics and common readers for their strong religious flavor. O'Connor not merely embraced the essence of traditional Gothic literature, but also made some breakthroughs. This thesis, based on Gothic tradition of American Southern literature, focuses on O'Connor's Gothic art, and makes a comparison between her Gothic and traditional Gothic. The body of the thesis is divided into four chapters.
Chapter One gives a detailed account of Gothic writing tradition in American literature. To begin with, it traces the origin of the word "Gothic" and the development of Gothic fiction. On this basis, the artistic features and aesthetic characteristics are generalized. During the period of Southern Renaissance, American South, with its unique history and culture, has offered a fertile land for the Gothic novel to survive and grow. Sothern Gothic fiction became one independent literary genre by its distinctive features. Chapter Two focuses on O'Connor's creative use of Gothic elements from two levels of Gothic motifs and plot. In her works, bloody violence and death is her common themes. The supernatural elements, horrible atmosphere, and grotesque characters also lend mystery to her works. Chapter Three presents the influence of American native culture on O'Connor's works. The creation of Gothic works keeps close ties with the lacking of religious beliefs in modern Western society, with the development of American society and history, as well as with her unfortunate personal life experience. Chapter Four explores O'Connor's innovation to Southern Gothic fictions. Most of her novels are the mixture of tragedy and comedy and share similar themes, aiming at realizing redemption by characters'violence followed by death. And also her freak characters are round and full of life. As for narrative techniques, the employment of a number of meaningful symbolic objects makes her stories more vivid and moving.
In short, O'Connor's Gothic art is both traditionally and innovatively. Combining Southern Gothic tradition with her religious point of view and unique writing techniques together, she intends to explore the society and history of American South. In her works, O'Connor exposes the lacking of beliefs and values and thus awake human being to the reality. She creates not only for Southerners but for the whole human beings, which shows the importance of further study on her and her writings as well.
引文
Allen, Charlotte. "Grace and Grotesque." The Wilson Quarterly 29 (2005):14-116.
Botting, Fred. "Horror." The Handbook to Gothic Literature. Ed. Marie Mulvey Roberts. New York:New York University Press,1998:123.
Burke, Edmund. "A Philosophical Enquiry into Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful.' Critical Theory Since Plato. Ed. Hazard Adams. Beijing:Beijing University Press,2006: 333-46.
Cornwell, Neil. "The Grotesque." The Handbook to Gothic Literature. Ed. Marie Mulvey-Roberts. New York:New York University Press,1998:273.
Drake, Robert. Flannery O'Connor:A Critic Essay. Grand Rapids:William B. Eerdmans, 1966.
Edmonson, Henry T. Return to Good and Evil:Flannery O'Connor's Response to Nihilism. Lanham, Md.:Lexington Books,2002.
Fitzgerald, Sally, et al., eds. Mystery and Manners:Occasional Prose. New York:Farrar, Straus & Giroux,1969.
Fitzgerald, Sally, ed. The Habit of Being. New York:Farrar, Straus & Girous,1979.
Gentry, Marshall Bruce. Flannery O'Connor's Religion of the Grotesque. Jackson:UP of Mississippi,1986.
Getz, Lorine M. Studies in Women and Religion. Vol.5. New York and Toronto:The Edwin Mellen Press,1978. Flannery O'Connor, literary theologian:the habits and discipline of being. Lewiston, N.Y.:E. Mellen Press,2000.
Giroux, Robert, ed. The Complete Stories. New York:Farrar, Straus & Giroux,1971.
Golden, Robert E., and Mary C. Sulliwan. Flannery O'Connor and Caroline Gordon:A Reference Guide. Boston:Boston Hall,1977.
Hawks, John. "Flannery O'Connor's Devil." Sewanee Review (Summer 1962):395-407.
Hendin, Josephine. The World of Flannery O'Connor. Bloomington, N:Indiana University Press,1970.
Holy Bible, The New Testament, Romans. Nanjing, China:China Christian Council,1995.
Holy Bible, The New Testament, Hebrews. Nanjing, China:China Christian Council,1995.
Kant, Immanuel. "Critique of Judgment. Trans. Werner S. Pluhar." Critical Theory Since Plato. Ed. Hazard Adams. Beijing:Beijing University Press,2006:417-40.
Lanzen, Laurie, et al., eds. Short Story Criticism. Michigan:Gale Research Company,1988.
Longinus, Dionysius Cassius. "On the Sublime." Critical Theory Since Plato. Ed. Hazard Adams. Beijing:Beijing University Press,2006:95-118.
Malin, Irving. New American Gothic. Carbondale:Southern Illinois University Press,1962.
McFarland, Dorothy Juck, Flannery O'Connor. New York:Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc.,1976.
O'Connor, William. The Grotesque:An American Genre. Carbondale:Southern Illinois University Press,1962.
Orvell, Miles. Flannery O'Connor-An Introduction. Jackson & London:University Press of Mississippi,1991.
Paulson, Suzanne Morrow. Flannery O'Connor-A Study of the Short Fiction. Boston:Twayne Publishers, A Division of G.K. Hall & Co.,1988.
Prown, Katherine Hemple. Revising Flannery O'Connor:South Literary Culture and the Problem of Female Authorship. Charlottesville and London:University Press of Virginia,2001.
Punter, David. The Literature of Terror:A History of Gothic Fictions from 1765 to the Present Day. London:New York:Longmans,1980.
Rubin, Louis D. Jr. The History of Southern Literature. Baton Rouge:Louisiana State University,1985.
Savoy, Eric. "The Rise of American Gothic." The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Ed. Jerrold Hogle. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,2002:167-87.
Schloss, Carol. Flannery O'Connor's Dark Comedies:The Limits of Inference. Baton Rouge: Louisiana UP,1980.
Seel, Cynthia. Ritual Performance in the fiction of Flannery O'Connor. Rochester, N.Y.: Camden House,2001.
Sigworth, Oliver F. Criticism and Aestheticism,1600-1800. San Francisco:Rinehart Press, 1971.
Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe:Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Collins,1991.
Smith, Allan Lloyd. "American Gothic." The Handbook to Gothic Literature. Ed. Marie Mulvey-Roberts. New York:New York University Press.1998:3-9.
Spirey, Ted R. "Flannery O'Connor's Vew of God and Man." Studies in Short Fiction (Spring 1964):200-206.
Srigley, Susan. Flannery O'Connor's Sacramental Art. Notre Dame, Ind.:University of Notre Dame Press,2004.
Tate, Allen. "Platitudes and Protestants." Critical Essays on Flannery O'Connor. Ed. Melvin, J. Friedman and Beverly, Lyon Clark. Boston:G.K. Hall & Co.1985:67-68.
Walker, Alice. "Beyond the Peacock:The Reconstruction of Flannery O'Connor." Short Story Criticism. Eds. Lanzen, Laurie, Fitezgerald, Harris Sheila. Michigan:Gale Research Company,1988:103-124.
Walters, Dorothy. Flannery O'Connor. New York:Twayne Publishers, Inc.,1973.
Whitt, Margaret Earley. Understanding Flannery O'Connor. Columbia, SC:University of South Carolina Press,1995.
Witt, Jonathan. Fearless Audiences:How Modern American Literature Flatters Us. M.A., Texas A & IM University.1992.
Wood, Ralph C. Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-haunted South. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub.,2004.
方汉泉,“喜剧与暴力·暴力与死亡·死亡与救赎——解读奥康纳的《好人难寻》”,《天津外国语学院学报》,2002年第2期,第62-67页。
傅景川,“美国南方‘圣经地带’怪诞的灵魂写手——论奥康纳和她的小说”,《吉林大学社会科学学报》,2000年第5期,第81-85页。
弗兰纳里·奥康纳著,主万译。公园深处。上海：上海译文出版社,1986年。
黄禄善,美国通俗小说史。南京：译林出版社,2003年。
李公昭,20世纪美国文学导论。西安：西安交通大学出版社,2000年。
李伟昉,黑色经典：英国歌特小说论。北京：中国社会科学出版社,2005年。
李怡,“论“死亡”和“暴力”在弗兰纳里·奥康纳文本中的美学功能”,《世界文学评论》,2007年第2期,第41-45页。
石云龙,“试论奥康纳短篇小说特色”,《南京航空航天大学学报(社会科学版)》,1999年第3期,第42-45页。
孙丽丽,“一个好人难寻的罪人世界——奥康纳短篇小说中的原罪观探析”,《外国文学研究》,2005年第1期,第25-29页。
肖明翰,“英美文学中的哥特传统”,《外国文学评论》,2001年第2期,第90-100页。
张燕,“反抗与消解——奥康纳作品的女性主义解读”,《西南民族大学学报(人文社科版)》,2003年第3期,第229-233页。
Botting, Fred. "Horror." The Handbook to Gothic Literature. Ed. Marie Mulvey Roberts. New York:New York University Press,1998:123.
Burke, Edmund. "A Philosophical Enquiry into Our Ideas of the Sublime and the Beautiful.' Critical Theory Since Plato. Ed. Hazard Adams. Beijing:Beijing University Press,2006: 333-46.
Cornwell, Neil. "The Grotesque." The Handbook to Gothic Literature. Ed. Marie Mulvey-Roberts. New York:New York University Press,1998:273.
Drake, Robert. Flannery O'Connor:A Critic Essay. Grand Rapids:William B. Eerdmans, 1966.
Edmonson, Henry T. Return to Good and Evil:Flannery O'Connor's Response to Nihilism. Lanham, Md.:Lexington Books,2002.
Fitzgerald, Sally, et al., eds. Mystery and Manners:Occasional Prose. New York:Farrar, Straus & Giroux,1969.
Fitzgerald, Sally, ed. The Habit of Being. New York:Farrar, Straus & Girous,1979.
Gentry, Marshall Bruce. Flannery O'Connor's Religion of the Grotesque. Jackson:UP of Mississippi,1986.
Getz, Lorine M. Studies in Women and Religion. Vol.5. New York and Toronto:The Edwin Mellen Press,1978. Flannery O'Connor, literary theologian:the habits and discipline of being. Lewiston, N.Y.:E. Mellen Press,2000.
Giroux, Robert, ed. The Complete Stories. New York:Farrar, Straus & Giroux,1971.
Golden, Robert E., and Mary C. Sulliwan. Flannery O'Connor and Caroline Gordon:A Reference Guide. Boston:Boston Hall,1977.
Hawks, John. "Flannery O'Connor's Devil." Sewanee Review (Summer 1962):395-407.
Hendin, Josephine. The World of Flannery O'Connor. Bloomington, N:Indiana University Press,1970.
Holy Bible, The New Testament, Romans. Nanjing, China:China Christian Council,1995.
Holy Bible, The New Testament, Hebrews. Nanjing, China:China Christian Council,1995.
Kant, Immanuel. "Critique of Judgment. Trans. Werner S. Pluhar." Critical Theory Since Plato. Ed. Hazard Adams. Beijing:Beijing University Press,2006:417-40.
Lanzen, Laurie, et al., eds. Short Story Criticism. Michigan:Gale Research Company,1988.
Longinus, Dionysius Cassius. "On the Sublime." Critical Theory Since Plato. Ed. Hazard Adams. Beijing:Beijing University Press,2006:95-118.
Malin, Irving. New American Gothic. Carbondale:Southern Illinois University Press,1962.
McFarland, Dorothy Juck, Flannery O'Connor. New York:Frederick Ungar Publishing Co., Inc.,1976.
O'Connor, William. The Grotesque:An American Genre. Carbondale:Southern Illinois University Press,1962.
Orvell, Miles. Flannery O'Connor-An Introduction. Jackson & London:University Press of Mississippi,1991.
Paulson, Suzanne Morrow. Flannery O'Connor-A Study of the Short Fiction. Boston:Twayne Publishers, A Division of G.K. Hall & Co.,1988.
Prown, Katherine Hemple. Revising Flannery O'Connor:South Literary Culture and the Problem of Female Authorship. Charlottesville and London:University Press of Virginia,2001.
Punter, David. The Literature of Terror:A History of Gothic Fictions from 1765 to the Present Day. London:New York:Longmans,1980.
Rubin, Louis D. Jr. The History of Southern Literature. Baton Rouge:Louisiana State University,1985.
Savoy, Eric. "The Rise of American Gothic." The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction. Ed. Jerrold Hogle. Cambridge:Cambridge University Press,2002:167-87.
Schloss, Carol. Flannery O'Connor's Dark Comedies:The Limits of Inference. Baton Rouge: Louisiana UP,1980.
Seel, Cynthia. Ritual Performance in the fiction of Flannery O'Connor. Rochester, N.Y.: Camden House,2001.
Sigworth, Oliver F. Criticism and Aestheticism,1600-1800. San Francisco:Rinehart Press, 1971.
Silverman, Kenneth. Edgar A. Poe:Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance. New York: Harper Collins,1991.
Smith, Allan Lloyd. "American Gothic." The Handbook to Gothic Literature. Ed. Marie Mulvey-Roberts. New York:New York University Press.1998:3-9.
Spirey, Ted R. "Flannery O'Connor's Vew of God and Man." Studies in Short Fiction (Spring 1964):200-206.
Srigley, Susan. Flannery O'Connor's Sacramental Art. Notre Dame, Ind.:University of Notre Dame Press,2004.
Tate, Allen. "Platitudes and Protestants." Critical Essays on Flannery O'Connor. Ed. Melvin, J. Friedman and Beverly, Lyon Clark. Boston:G.K. Hall & Co.1985:67-68.
Walker, Alice. "Beyond the Peacock:The Reconstruction of Flannery O'Connor." Short Story Criticism. Eds. Lanzen, Laurie, Fitezgerald, Harris Sheila. Michigan:Gale Research Company,1988:103-124.
Walters, Dorothy. Flannery O'Connor. New York:Twayne Publishers, Inc.,1973.
Whitt, Margaret Earley. Understanding Flannery O'Connor. Columbia, SC:University of South Carolina Press,1995.
Witt, Jonathan. Fearless Audiences:How Modern American Literature Flatters Us. M.A., Texas A & IM University.1992.
Wood, Ralph C. Flannery O'Connor and the Christ-haunted South. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Pub.,2004.
方汉泉,“喜剧与暴力·暴力与死亡·死亡与救赎——解读奥康纳的《好人难寻》”,《天津外国语学院学报》,2002年第2期,第62-67页。
傅景川,“美国南方‘圣经地带’怪诞的灵魂写手——论奥康纳和她的小说”,《吉林大学社会科学学报》,2000年第5期,第81-85页。
弗兰纳里·奥康纳著,主万译。公园深处。上海：上海译文出版社,1986年。
黄禄善,美国通俗小说史。南京：译林出版社,2003年。
李公昭,20世纪美国文学导论。西安：西安交通大学出版社,2000年。
李伟昉,黑色经典：英国歌特小说论。北京：中国社会科学出版社,2005年。
李怡,“论“死亡”和“暴力”在弗兰纳里·奥康纳文本中的美学功能”,《世界文学评论》,2007年第2期,第41-45页。
石云龙,“试论奥康纳短篇小说特色”,《南京航空航天大学学报(社会科学版)》,1999年第3期,第42-45页。
孙丽丽,“一个好人难寻的罪人世界——奥康纳短篇小说中的原罪观探析”,《外国文学研究》,2005年第1期,第25-29页。
肖明翰,“英美文学中的哥特传统”,《外国文学评论》,2001年第2期,第90-100页。
张燕,“反抗与消解——奥康纳作品的女性主义解读”,《西南民族大学学报(人文社科版)》,2003年第3期,第229-233页。