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美国20世纪著名小说家约翰·斯坦贝克(John Steinbeck,1902—1968)在作品《烈焰》(Burning Bright: A Play in Story Form,2001)的序言中正式提出了“剧本小说”(play-novelette)概念,他认为这一文体形式是“多種原有形式的综合体”,并称之为“一种容易阅读的剧本”或“一种只须抽出其中的对话就能上演的中篇小说”。学者田俊武把斯坦贝克的“剧本小说”解读为兼具小说外形和戏剧内涵的跨文本写作范式,是“以小说为名在进行戏剧创造或舞台演出”。因此,“剧本小说”的特殊性就在于其戏剧性。
《菊花》(The Chrysanthemums)是斯坦贝克最受欢迎和被收录最多的短篇作品,其中讲述了农妇伊丽莎在短短半天时间内跌宕起伏的心路历程。囿于家务、缺乏丈夫欣赏的伊丽莎渴望自我价值得到认可,因此寄情于菊花种植。补锅匠的来访在她原本就不平静的心中激起波澜。她误将补锅匠为讨活而假意欣赏菊花的举动视为对她的理解和欣赏,不仅让补锅匠补锅,还送给他一盆花苗。然而,好景不长,重拾自信、精神焕发的伊丽莎在与丈夫进城途中发现自己送给补锅匠的花苗被扔在路边,这使她深受打击,自我价值最终也没能得到认可。值得注意的是,伊丽莎的心态变化并非通过作者的全知全能叙述或小说常用的自由间接引语表现出来,而是由动作和语言直接展现,戏剧的直观性明显。并且,小说所涉及的三个人物都具有鲜明的性格特征:伊丽莎天真,渴望实现自我价值;丈夫亨利不解风情;补锅匠圆滑世故。鲜明的角色个性体现出戏剧人物的单纯性。此外,故事的时间跨度约为半天,以萨林纳斯山谷为背景,将场景限定在花园、农舍以及敞篷车内,适于舞台演出。由此,本研究发现,尽管早在《菊花》问世的1937年,斯坦贝克还未正式提出“剧本小说”的概念,但是“剧本小说”这一创作理念却已经蕴含于《菊花》的创作之中,并成为其不容忽视的文体特征。但是,目前国内外的研究多聚焦于《菊花》的象征意义解读、叙事结构的二元对立分析、会话分析及物性分析等,鲜有学者探讨其戏剧性文体特征。因此,本文将从结构和叙事两方面深入分析该小说的戏剧性特征,以挖掘指导斯坦贝克运用该特殊文体写作的非目的论哲学观。
一、《菊花》的戏剧性叙事
《菊花》运用了戏剧化的演示性叙事方式,体现出戏剧的直观性特征。戏剧的直观性在于戏剧情节由人物的语言和动作推动,而非依靠作者的叙述。黑格尔认为戏剧的直观性和直接性是其有别于史诗、抒情诗的根本特征。小说想取得戏剧的直观性效果,就要避免全知全能的作者叙述和有作者介入的叙事方式,同时尽可能地让作品中的人物作为叙述者,在人物的独白、对话或行动中直接塑造人物性格并展示情节变化。在《菊花》中,伊丽莎的心理波动不是由作者干预的自由间接引语描述出来的,而是在对话和动作中自行展现的。并且,由于《菊花》中的对话具有展现人物性格特点和思想变化、推动故事情节的作用,因此区别于一般意义上的普通对话,呈现出戏剧性特征。下文将通过两个选段详细分析《菊花》中的戏剧性对话。
选段一:伊丽莎在花园中侍弄菊花,丈夫亨利谈完生意后来到花园与伊丽莎交谈。
(1)“At it again,”he said. “You’ve got a strong new crop coming.”
(2)Elisa straightened her back and pulled on the gardening glove again. “Yes. They’ll be strong this coming year.” In her tone and on her face there was a little smugness.
(3)“You’ve got a gift with things,”Henry observed. “Some of those yellow chrysanthemums you had this year were ten inches across. I wish you’d work out in the orchard and raise some apples tha t big.”
(4)Her eyes sharpened. “Maybe I could do it, too. I’ve a gift with things, all right. My mother had it. She could stick anything in the ground and make it grow. She said it was having planters’ hands that knew how to do it.”
(5)“Well, it sure works with flowers.” he said.
(6)“Henry, who were those men you were talking to?”
(7)“Why, sure, that’s what I came to tell you. They were from the Western Meat Company. I sold those thirty head of three-year-old steers. Got nearly my own prices, too.”
(8)“Good,” she said. “Good for you.”
(9)“And I thought,” he continued, “I thought how it’s Saturday afternoon, and we might go into Salinas for dinner at a restaurant, and then to a picture show—to celebrate, you see.” (10)“Good,” she repeated. “Oh, yes. That will be good.”
(11)Henry put on his joking tone. “There’s fights tonight. How’d you like to go to the fights?”
(12)“Oh, no,”she said breathlessly. “No, I wouldn’t like fights.”
(13)“Just fooling, Elisa.We’ll go to a movie. Let’s see. It’s two now. I’m going to take Scotty and bring down those steers from the hill. It’ll take us maybe two hours. We’ll go in town about five and have dinner at the Cominos
《菊花》(The Chrysanthemums)是斯坦贝克最受欢迎和被收录最多的短篇作品,其中讲述了农妇伊丽莎在短短半天时间内跌宕起伏的心路历程。囿于家务、缺乏丈夫欣赏的伊丽莎渴望自我价值得到认可,因此寄情于菊花种植。补锅匠的来访在她原本就不平静的心中激起波澜。她误将补锅匠为讨活而假意欣赏菊花的举动视为对她的理解和欣赏,不仅让补锅匠补锅,还送给他一盆花苗。然而,好景不长,重拾自信、精神焕发的伊丽莎在与丈夫进城途中发现自己送给补锅匠的花苗被扔在路边,这使她深受打击,自我价值最终也没能得到认可。值得注意的是,伊丽莎的心态变化并非通过作者的全知全能叙述或小说常用的自由间接引语表现出来,而是由动作和语言直接展现,戏剧的直观性明显。并且,小说所涉及的三个人物都具有鲜明的性格特征:伊丽莎天真,渴望实现自我价值;丈夫亨利不解风情;补锅匠圆滑世故。鲜明的角色个性体现出戏剧人物的单纯性。此外,故事的时间跨度约为半天,以萨林纳斯山谷为背景,将场景限定在花园、农舍以及敞篷车内,适于舞台演出。由此,本研究发现,尽管早在《菊花》问世的1937年,斯坦贝克还未正式提出“剧本小说”的概念,但是“剧本小说”这一创作理念却已经蕴含于《菊花》的创作之中,并成为其不容忽视的文体特征。但是,目前国内外的研究多聚焦于《菊花》的象征意义解读、叙事结构的二元对立分析、会话分析及物性分析等,鲜有学者探讨其戏剧性文体特征。因此,本文将从结构和叙事两方面深入分析该小说的戏剧性特征,以挖掘指导斯坦贝克运用该特殊文体写作的非目的论哲学观。
一、《菊花》的戏剧性叙事
《菊花》运用了戏剧化的演示性叙事方式,体现出戏剧的直观性特征。戏剧的直观性在于戏剧情节由人物的语言和动作推动,而非依靠作者的叙述。黑格尔认为戏剧的直观性和直接性是其有别于史诗、抒情诗的根本特征。小说想取得戏剧的直观性效果,就要避免全知全能的作者叙述和有作者介入的叙事方式,同时尽可能地让作品中的人物作为叙述者,在人物的独白、对话或行动中直接塑造人物性格并展示情节变化。在《菊花》中,伊丽莎的心理波动不是由作者干预的自由间接引语描述出来的,而是在对话和动作中自行展现的。并且,由于《菊花》中的对话具有展现人物性格特点和思想变化、推动故事情节的作用,因此区别于一般意义上的普通对话,呈现出戏剧性特征。下文将通过两个选段详细分析《菊花》中的戏剧性对话。
选段一:伊丽莎在花园中侍弄菊花,丈夫亨利谈完生意后来到花园与伊丽莎交谈。
(1)“At it again,”he said. “You’ve got a strong new crop coming.”
(2)Elisa straightened her back and pulled on the gardening glove again. “Yes. They’ll be strong this coming year.” In her tone and on her face there was a little smugness.
(3)“You’ve got a gift with things,”Henry observed. “Some of those yellow chrysanthemums you had this year were ten inches across. I wish you’d work out in the orchard and raise some apples tha t big.”
(4)Her eyes sharpened. “Maybe I could do it, too. I’ve a gift with things, all right. My mother had it. She could stick anything in the ground and make it grow. She said it was having planters’ hands that knew how to do it.”
(5)“Well, it sure works with flowers.” he said.
(6)“Henry, who were those men you were talking to?”
(7)“Why, sure, that’s what I came to tell you. They were from the Western Meat Company. I sold those thirty head of three-year-old steers. Got nearly my own prices, too.”
(8)“Good,” she said. “Good for you.”
(9)“And I thought,” he continued, “I thought how it’s Saturday afternoon, and we might go into Salinas for dinner at a restaurant, and then to a picture show—to celebrate, you see.” (10)“Good,” she repeated. “Oh, yes. That will be good.”
(11)Henry put on his joking tone. “There’s fights tonight. How’d you like to go to the fights?”
(12)“Oh, no,”she said breathlessly. “No, I wouldn’t like fights.”
(13)“Just fooling, Elisa.We’ll go to a movie. Let’s see. It’s two now. I’m going to take Scotty and bring down those steers from the hill. It’ll take us maybe two hours. We’ll go in town about five and have dinner at the Cominos