摘要
伊恩·麦克尤恩(1948-)是当前英国文坛最具影响力的作家之一。《赎罪》作为一部典型的忏悔小说奠定了作者伊恩·麦克尤恩在英国后现代文学领域中的重要地位。自从二零零一年出版以来,小说《赎罪》一直受到来自文学界许多学者的广泛关注,他们分别从不同角度对小说加以评论。尽管曾有批评家提及到《赎罪》中的一些元小说特征,但仍需要对其进行更加深入全面的研究。
鉴于此,本文试图相对深入地从元小说理论角度来研究《赎罪》中所运用的叙事技巧与写作策略。元小说是在写作过程中自我揭露小说写作技巧,暴露小说虚构幻想的一种后现代小说模式。在对《赎罪》进行一定量的文本分析和元小说理论研读的基础之上,本文旨在阐释小说《赎罪》在写作策略中所体现出来的一些元小说特征,包括:自反性,互文性以及时空的碎片拼贴。
《赎罪》的开放式结尾以及小说文本的批评功能暴露了小说的虚构过程,揭示了小说在创作过程中所体现出的“自反性”特征。通过与《赎罪》文本之外作品的外互文性以及文本内部各个故事之间的内互文性特征研究,本文试图说明,在小说中,真实与虚构之间的界限是模糊的抑或是不存在的。元小说式的写作手法一时空碎片拼贴在《赎罪》叙事中的运用颠覆了传统小说艺术原有的模式和规范,体现出伊恩·麦克尤恩极具特色的后现代主义小说写作模式。此外,作者试图对伊恩·麦克尤恩构建小说女主人公布里欧尼终生赎罪情节的目的加以探讨,揭示了麦克尤恩在后现代主义小说写作上所采取的现实与虚构相结合的策略。
本篇论文研究结果表明:《赎罪》是一部具有明显元小说特征的后现代主义小说。通过暴露其创作过程,这部小说在写作方法上破坏了虚伪的现实,超越了虚构与非虚构,艺术与生活,小说与文学批评之间的界限。
Ian McEwan (1948-) is one of the most influential ones among the contemporary British writers. Atonement, as an unusual case of confessional fiction, has established Ian McEwan's position in the field of British postmodern literature. Since it's publication in 2001, Atonement has been widely analyzed and commented on from different perspectives. Although some critics have noticed some of the metafictional features in the novel, a deeper and more thorough study of the metafictional features of the novel is still needed.
In view of this, the thesis attempts to make a deeper study of the narrative techniques and writing strategies in Atonement from the perspective of metafictional theories. Metafiction is a mode of postmodern fictions that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusions in its writing process. Based on substantial textual analysis and studies of the metafictional theories, the thesis aims to demonstrate the metafictional features Atonement presents us, such as, self-consciousness, inter-textuality and collages of time and space.
The open end of Atonement and the critical function of the text suggest the exposure of the fictive writing process of the novel and reflect the metafictional feature of self-consciousness. Through studies on the extra-textual relationship with texts outside the novel of Atonement and intra-textual relationship with stories within the text of the novel, the thesis attempts to reveal that the relationship between fiction and reality in the novel is blurred or even does not exist. The application of the metafictional writing strategy of the collages of time and space in the narration of Atonement subverts the writing mode of the traditional novels, and which precisely reflect the unique features of Ian McEwan's postmodern writing methodologies. Besides, by examining Ian McEwan's purpose of writing about Briony's ever-lasting atonement just for her fancy misinterpretation, the thesis discloses the combination of reality and fiction in Ian McEwan's writing strategies.
Research result of the thesis testifies that Atonement is a postmodern novel with typical metafictional features. This novel, by exposing its writing process, destroys the hypocritical realities and transcends boundaries between fiction and non-fiction, art and life, fiction and literary criticisms.
引文
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