论文部分内容阅读
库柏的第一部海洋小说《领航人》探讨的一个主题是人物的伦理身份问题。小说中的男女主角均深陷个人与国家、个人与个人之间错综复杂的伦理关系网之中;因为忠诚或是背叛祖国而引起伦理身份的改变,从而使小说主角陷入伦理两难的困境中。其实,小说对人物伦理身份问题的探讨,是同美国独立之前宗主国英国和北美殖民地复杂的伦理环境紧密联系的,当时殖民地人民也面临着两难的选择:是继续附属于英国母体,还是脱离母国而独立。因此,小说人物伦理两难的实质,正是此历史语境下殖民地人民面临的身份问题的艺术写照;小说人物伦理身份的确立,其本质正是殖民地人民构建美利坚民族身份的历史隐喻。
One of the topics discussed by Cooper’s first ocean novel Pilot was the ethical identity of the characters. Both male and female novels in the novels are deeply entangled in the complicated network of ethics between individuals and countries, individuals and individuals. Because loyalty or betrayal of the motherland causes the change of ethical status, the protagonist of the novel plunges into the predicament of ethical dilemmas. In fact, the discussion of ethical identity in the novel is closely linked to the complex ethical environment of the British and North American colonies before the independence of the United States. At that time, the colonial people also faced a dilemma: whether they should continue to be affiliated with the mother of Britain or leave their motherland independent. Therefore, the essence of the ethical dilemma of characters in the novel is exactly the artistic portrayal of the identity issues facing the colonial people in this historical context. The establishment of the ethical identity of the characters in the novel is essentially the historical metaphor of the colonial people’s identity in building the American nation.