大地与生死场中的女性意识.docx
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大地与生死场中的女性意识.docx
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大地与生死场中的女性意识
大地与生死场中的女性意识
摘要
《大地》是美国女性作家赛珍珠的小说作品,而《生死场》则是中国女性作家萧红的小说作品,赛珍珠和萧红虽然国籍不同,叙事语调不同,但她们的这两部作品都描写了二十世纪初中国农村妇女在父权制社会下的悲惨命运,同时也都刻画了在传统压迫下的女性人物的反叛精神。
对农村妇女悲惨的遭遇和对父权制的反叛的描写都是对妇女觉醒和解放的关注和思考,表现出了赛珍珠和萧红的女性意识。
关键词:
《大地》,《生死场》,女性意识
TheFeministConsciousnessinTheGoodEarthandTheFieldofLifeandDeath
Abstract
TheGoodEarthisanovelwrittenbyAmericanwomanwriterPearlS.Buck,andTheFieldofLifeandDeathbyChinesewomanwriterXiaoHong.AlthoughPearlS.BuckandXiaoHonghavedifferentnationalitiesandtellstoriesindifferenttones,theybothdepictthemiserabledestinyoftheChineseruralwomenoftheearlytwentiethcenturywhosufferedtremendouslyinthepatriarchalsociety.Thesetwowritersbothportraythefemalecharacters’rebelliousspirit,whichdisplaystheirfocusandconcernsonwomen’sawakeningandliberation,andalsotheirfeministconsciousnessinthesetwonovels.
KeyWords:
TheGoodEarth,TheFieldofLifeandDeath,feministconsciousness
1.Introduction
PearlS.BuckwasthefirstAmericanwomanwriterwhowontheNobelPrizeforLiteratureandfamousforhernovelssetinChina.ThoughshewasborninHillsboro,WestVirginia,theUnitedStates,“shewasbroughttoChinabyhermissionaryparentswhenshewasonlythreemonthsold”[](p.2)andthenspentalmost40yearsinChinasothatshewasgreatlyinfluencedbyChinesecultureaswellasChinesetraditionalnovels.HernovelTheGoodEarth,themostfamousandbelovednovelbyNobel-Prizewinner,wonthePulitzerPrizein1932.AndshewasawardedtheNobelPrizeforLiterature“forherrichandtrulyepicdescriptionsofpeasantlifeinChinaandforherbiographicalmasterpieces.”[]However,sincethen,shehasbecomeoneofthemostcontroversialwritersinthehistoryofAmericanLiterature.
Afterthenews,TheNewYorkTimespublishedaprofileinterviewspeakinghighlyofPearlandherworks.ButintheAmericanliterarycircle,themajorityofwriterstooknegativereactions.ThefamouspoetRobertFrostsaidthatifshecouldwintheNobelPrizeforLiterature,thenitwasnotaproblemthateveryonecouldwinit.Luckily,withthecommunicationbetweentheChineseandwesternculture,thisclassicandhistoricnovelhasbeguntoexertitshugeinfluenceagain.Since1940s,amongthoseAmericanwriters,PeterConnandhisworkPearlS.Buck:
ACulturalBiographyhavecontributedthemosttoitsstudy.“Connconvincinglyportraysherasanextraordinarilycommittedandpassionatewomanwhospokeoutbravelyonsubjectsothersofhergenerationpreferredtoignore”[]andhisaimistoreestablish“herplaceinAmericanliteraryhistory,aswellastoacknowledgehercontributiontothesocialcauseswhichsheespoused”[3]“throughhisnarrativeaccountforhereventfullifeandextensivewriting.”[]In1992,MaconWomen’sCollegeheldaninternationalsymposiumonPearlS.Buck’scentenarybirthdayincludingAsian,European,andAmericanscholars,whichpromotedthedevelopmentoftheresearchofPearlandherworks.Whilesincethe1930s,Chinesescholarshasshowngreatinterestandattentionsonherandherworks.But,becauseofhistorical,politicalandotherreasons,domesticresearchonPearlandherworkshasexperiencedupsanddowns,whichismainlydividedintothefollowingthreestages.Inthefirststage,fromthe1930sto1940s,herworksweretranslatedintoChineseandChinesescholarstooktwooppositeviews.Someofthem,representedbyYeGongchaoandZhuangXinzai,thoughtthatherworkswereobjectiveandrealistic.Bycontrast,theothers,representedbyLuXun,HuFengandMaoDun,claimedthatherworksmisrepresentedtheimageofChina.Inthisstage,theresearchonlyfocusedonthesocialandpoliticalfunctionsofherworksratherthanonthemoredeeplyculturalaspects.Inthesecondstage,fromthe1950sto1970s,becauseoftheideologicaldifferences,Pearlandherworkswerethoroughlydeniedbydomesticscholarsandtheresearchonherworkshadbeenstoppedforseveraldecades.Inthethirdstage,fromthe1980stonowadays,domesticresearchontheforeignliteraturehasattachedgreatimportancetothisfieldandbeguntodeeplystudyherworksindifferentaspects,suchasthecauseofPearl’sliteraturephenomenon,herviewofliteratureandartandthesignificanceofherworks.In1989,theChinesemainlandfirstpublishedthetranslationworkofGoodEarth,SonsandAHouseDividedbyWangFengzhenandotherscholars,whichhasbeenloveddeeplybyreaderssincethen.Besides,scholarsbegantostudyherworksfromdifferentandnewperspectives,thefeministliterarycriticismandpostcolonialtheoryandorientalism.Ontheotherhand,scholarsalsofocusedontheuniversalsignificanceofherworkssince,toagreatextent,shewasconsideredasabridgeofculturalexchangebetweenChinaandtheWest.Therefore,scholarsnotonlyexplainedtheChinesecharacteristicsinhernovels,butalsoexploredherstrategiesforcross-culturalcommunication.Allinall,althoughtherearealreadymanystudiesonPearlS.Buckandherworks,thereisnodoubtthatthestudiesonherandherworksstillhavemoreroomfordevelopmentbecauseherworksareclassicandaliveandshouldbestudiedmoredeeplywiththedevelopmentofoursociety.
XiaoHongisafamousfemalewriterafterBingXinandDingLinginthehistoryofChinesemodernliterature.Herworksattractedmanywriters’attentionsathertimelikeLuXunandMaoDun,whoallspokehighlyofherandherworks.Duringhershortnine-yearwritingcareer,shecreatedmorethanonemillionwordsofliteraryworksincludingnovels,prosesandplays.In1934,withthehelpofLuXun,shepublishedhernovelTheFieldofLifeandDeath,whichwasthebeginningofherfame.Asawoman,sheexperiencedtheformidableoppressionofthepatriarchalcultureatanearlydate,sofeministthoughtsbecameanimportantthemeofherworks.
Therefore,therearemanystudiesmainlyonfeministconsciousnessinherworks,ofwhichtheinfluentialoneisNora’sSpeech:
ThePsychologicalCourseofChineseModernFemaleWritersbyLiuSiqian,apioneeringbookonChinesefeministliterarycriticism.TheauthorrevealsXiaoHong’smentalprocessinhernovelcreationfromarationalanduniqueperspectiveoffeministcriticism.AnotherinfluentialbookisTotheSurfaceoftheHistory:
TheStudyofModernChineseWomen’sLiteraturebyMengYueandDaiJinhua,whichdeeplyexplainsXiaoHong’sfeministconsciousnessfromthreeaspectsoffate,femaleinsight,awakeningandsympathy.Besides,therearemanyarticlesonXiaoHong’sfeministconsciousness.Forexample,“OnXiaoHong’sFeministThoughts”byHuangChanghuafocusesonthosewomen’smiserablefateinXiaoHong’sworks.ZhouXiaoyingcomparestheimagesofChinesevillagesbetweenPearlS.Buck’sTheMotherandXiaoHong’sTheFieldofLifeandDeath,whichalsotalksabouttheruralwomen’stragicfateandsufferings.AsfortheforeignstudiesonXiaoHongandherworks,TheFieldofLifeandDeathandTalesofHulanRiverweretranslatedintoEnglishbyHowardGoldblattandEllenYeung.Then,therearesomereviewedworksofthistranslationversion.
ThisthesisfocusesonthefeministconsciousnessinTheGoodEarthandTheFieldofLifeandDeath,whichconsistsoffourparts.Thefirstpartmainlyintroducesthedomesticandforeignstudiesonthetwowritersandtheirworks.ThesecondpartisthemainpartofthisthesiswhichelaboratesthefeministconsciousnessinTheGoodEarthandTheFieldofLifeandDeathbyanalyzingtheChinesewomen’ssufferingsandtheirrebelliousspiritinthetwonovels.Thethirdpartstatesthedifferencesinconveyingtheirfeministconsciousnessinthesetwonovels.Thelastpartisthegeneralconclusiononthisthesis.
2.TheFeministConsciousnessinTheGoodEarthandTheFieldofLifeandDeath
PearlS.BuckandXiaoHongbothfocusonChineseruralwomen’lifeinthepatriarchalsocietyandtheyareawarethatwomenbelongtoasubordinategroup,whichmadethemsufferalotanddominatedbymen.DepictingChineseruralwomen’ssufferingsandrebelliousspirit,PearlS.BuckandXiaoHongshowtheirfeministconsciousnessinthesetwonovels.
2.1ChineseRuralWomen’sSufferings
InTheGoodEarth,PearlS.BuckmainlydisplaysthesufferingsofO-Lan,thewifeofthefarmerWangLung;whileinTheFieldofLifeandDeath,XiaoHongdescribesthatofdifferentwomenlikeOldMotherPockface,MotherWang,Yveh-yingandGoldenBough.Yetdespiteallthat,theystillhavealotincommonintermsofthemiserablesufferings.
2.1.1TheScenesofChineseRuralWomen’sChildbirth
InTheGoodEarth,themostimpressivesceneofwomen’schildbirthiswhenO-Lan’sfirstchildwasborn.Withgreatagony,shestillworkedintheharvestfieldwithherhusbandbeforeshegavebirth.Herhusbanddidn’taskhertotakearest,andevenfeltimpatientwhenshe“cutmoreandmoreslowly.”[](p.36)Onlywhenshefeltthatthehourcamedidshegobacktotheirhousealone,andwhenherhusbandcameback,hefoundthatshehadpreparedthemfood.Withoutamidwife,O-Lanhadtogivebirthbyherself.Sheaskedherhusbandtogiveher“anewlypeeledreed”[5](p.36)tocutthechildandnottocomeintotheroomuntilshecalledhim.Pearldidn’tdepicttheprocessofthechildbirthdirectly,butreaderscouldimaginethatthroughO-Lan’shusband.Hegaveherthereedand“stoodlisteningatthedoortothoseheavyanimalpants,”[5](p.37)butshedidn’tmakesoundaloud.Howbravesheistocutthechildfromherownbodyevenwithoutloudscreams!
However,whenthechildwasborn,herhusbanddidn’tcareaboutheratallwhojustsufferedalotofpainofgivingbirth,andtheonlythingthathewantedtoknowwaswhetherthe
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- 关 键 词:
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