本文以"《印度之行》的新歷史主義分析"為例探討英美文學論文摘要範文：
摘要:愛德華·摩根·福斯特作為一個小説家在現代英國文學乃至世界文學中佔有重要的地位.在世界文壇上,他同詹姆士·喬伊斯、D.H.勞倫斯和弗吉尼亞·伍爾夫享有同等盛名.與此同時,他還被稱為 20 世紀英國最偉大的小説家之一.
《印度之行》作為福斯特最負盛名的代表作之一,與其相關的文學研究舉不勝數.多數評論家採用後殖民理論來對小説中的殖民色彩進行分析.也有評論家從文體學與精神分析學的角度對這部作品進行分析.象徵主義、女性主義等文學理論也多被用來分析這部小説.小説中的寫作技巧以及小説中體現的東西方文化差異等特徵也被引起了廣泛的關注.本文擬通過運用新歷史主義理論來研究小説中的聯結主題.
福斯特將他的生活與作品交織在一起,以自身的`經歷為靈感創作了多部小説.通過作品為讀者們展現出他所經歷的那一段歷史.很難説明究竟是他的個人經歷豐富了他的小説情節還是他的小説內容充實了他的個人生活.
論文由四個章節組成.第一章對作者 E.M.福斯特的生平、小説《印度之行》以及新歷史主義理論進行了簡要得概述.有關小説《印度之行》的國內外研究現狀在該章內容中也有所介紹.
第二章主要討論文本與歷史的互動關係.該章從新歷史主義視角運用新歷史主義學家路易斯·蒙特羅斯的"文本的歷史性"和"歷史的文本性"對小説進行分析."文本的歷史性"強調文學文本對歷史的文學解釋.文學文本與歷史之間有着一種相互促進的關係,文學文本並不是消極地反映歷史事件,而是加入對歷史意義的創造過程,是對政治話語、權利操縱、等級秩序的重新解讀."歷史的文本性"是指人們無法親身經歷和完全瞭解真實的過去,只有通過相關的文本記錄.這些文本無法擺脱記錄者的主觀影響,歷史不再是客觀的歷史而是與文學文本一樣具有主觀性.
第三章主要討論福斯特如何通過塑造小説中的邊緣人物和通過邊緣人物的發聲來體現他的融合觀.所謂劃分"邊緣"與"中心"是相對而言的.如果以遵守社會主流意識的人物為中心,那麼被摒棄於主流之外的就屬於邊緣地位.新歷史主義學家們敢於挑戰主流意識形態的權利話語並重視邊緣人物的聲音.在小説《印度之行》中,福斯特塑造的三位主人公分別代表了處於不同地位的邊緣人物:
處於弱勢羣體地位的被殖民者印度醫生艾西斯;願意同印度人成為朋友被同伴排斥的英國人菲爾丁;處於父權社會敢於追求自我獨立擁有自我探索精神的英國女性阿黛拉.福斯特通過描述邊緣人物的人際交往來實現他的聯結觀並倡導不同的種族可以通過和諧的人際關係來實現聯結.
第四章具體從新歷史主義的角度對《印度之行》的聯結主題進行了總結.
儘管福斯特極力試圖在小説中實現跨種族,跨階級的聯結,但是失敗的人際交往象徵着聯結的失敗.福斯特作為英國中產階級的一員,雖有其自身的侷限性,但他敢於批判英國殖民者在人際交往中表現出的偽善與冷漠.小説《印度之行》充分體現了他實現聯結的決心.
關鍵詞:《印度之行》;新歷史主義;文本性與歷史性;聯結主題.
Abstract:As a novelist Edward Morgan Forster (1879-1970) plays a very important role inmodern British literature. He enjoys the same world-wide reputation with James Joyce,ence and Virginia Woolf. He is also known as one of the greatest Britishnovelists in the 20thcentury. A Passage to India as one of the most famous novels ter attracts many Western and Chinese critics' attention. Some critics studythe novel from the perspectives of postcolonial theory and psychoanalysis; somecritics utilize the methodologies of symbolism and feminism to analyze this novel.
The writing skills and the cultural differences in the novel have also been thesis intends to use the theory of New Historicism to study the theme ofconnection in A Passage to India.
ter always intertwines his life with his works and writes down thehistory of the period as he had perceived. He bases a good deal of his fiction on hisown personal experiences that it is difficult to tell when his life furnishes material forhis fiction and when his fiction furnishes material for his life.
This thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter makes an introduction ter, A Passage to India and New Historicism. The overseas and domesticcriticisms will also be discussed respectively.
The second chapter deals with the interactions between text and history. Thischapter mainly applies the historicity of text and the textuality of history, firstly raisedby the New Historicist Louis Montrose, to analyze the novel. The historicity of textemphasizes text's literary interpretations on history. It is pointed out that there is arelationship of mutual promotion between literary text and history. A literary text isnot to reflect the historical events passively. It can help to enrich the historicalsignificance and to reinterpret the political discourse, the dominant right and thehierarchical rules of a period of certain history. The textuality of history indicates thatpeople cannot experience the past. Only by reading the related historical records canpeople have a chance to know the past. These historical records can hardly get rid ofthe subjective effects of its writers. Consequently, the history we can understand is nolonger objective.
The third chapter concentrates on discussing how Forster portrays themarginalized people in the novel and how he achieves his goal of connection via thevoice of these people. The relationship between the "center" and "edge" is relative.
People who follow the mainstream ideology of society occupy the center place; whilepeople who betray the mainstream ideology of society belong to marginal status. Mostof the historians ignore the voice of the marginalized people. New Historicists dare tochallenge the mainstream ideology and pay close attention to the voices of themarginalized people. In the novel, Forster portrays three different marginalizedcharacters. They are: Aziz, the colonized Indian doctor; Fielding who is willing tomake friends with Indians without racial discrimination; Adela who obtains a spirit ofindependence and self-experience in the British patriarchal society. Forster holds thatthe harmonious human relationship can help to achieve connection between differentraces.
The fourth chapter makes a conclusion to the novel from the perspective of NewHistoricism. Forster tries his hard to bridge the gap between different classes anddifferent races. The failure of the human relationship indicates the failure ofconnection. Although Forster has his own limitation as a member of the Britishmiddle class, he dares to reveal the hypocrisy and indifference of English people.
He shows his determination firmly to achieve connection in A Passage to India.
Kew words: A Passage to India; the new historical approach; historicity and textuality;theme of connection.