第一篇：雷蒙德卡佛短篇小說主題和藝術(shù)初探論文

1引言

雷蒙德·卡佛(Raymond Carver 1938一1988)是美國當(dāng)代著名的短篇小說家、詩人。他以簡潔平實(shí)的敘述語言，客觀冷靜的敘述方式，被稱為“極簡主義之父”，曾為美國七八十年代短篇小說的復(fù)興做出了巨大貢獻(xiàn)。一直以來，學(xué)術(shù)界關(guān)于雷蒙德·卡佛的研究重點(diǎn)大多放在其寫作風(fēng)格的相關(guān)研究上，少有較為系統(tǒng)的小說主題研究和藝術(shù)特征研究。本論文以他的短篇小說為研究對象，結(jié)合他的傳記、采訪等相關(guān)文獻(xiàn)，通過文本細(xì)讀的方式、運(yùn)用相關(guān)小說理論，將文本研究與理論探索相結(jié)合，展示出卡佛短篇小說所具有的獨(dú)特文學(xué)特質(zhì)及意義。

出生并常年生活在底層社會(huì)的卡佛，敢于直面現(xiàn)實(shí)的艱辛與無奈，他通過小說向讀者展示出了真實(shí)的美國底層社會(huì)的生存現(xiàn)實(shí)。在他的筆下，物質(zhì)的匱乏、經(jīng)濟(jì)的困頓使人們處于艱難的生存條件中，而兩性關(guān)系的失衡則加劇了他們生存的困境;由此直接或間接導(dǎo)致人們感到精神的苦痛，使他們感受到威脅的同時(shí)，產(chǎn)生了焦慮的情緒，從而陷入了精神的困境當(dāng)中。

另一方面，當(dāng)代社會(huì)中人類處于被“物化”的危機(jī)之中，人與人之間缺乏必要的交流，也難以建立長久而有效的正常溝通。無論是愛人間、家人間或是在其他人際關(guān)系中，人們都逐漸喪失自我表達(dá)和彼此交流的能力，使得人際關(guān)系逐漸惡化，由此走入了交流的困境。但卡佛的小說不僅僅是直面和指出現(xiàn)實(shí)的殘酷及無奈，也不只是深刻展現(xiàn)人際交流間的異化狀況，他還對這種絕望而疏離的現(xiàn)實(shí)生活進(jìn)行了深入思考，給當(dāng)下生活以積極的啟示作用?？ǚ鸲唐≌f創(chuàng)作的風(fēng)格以“極簡主義”而聞名，然而他所運(yùn)用的種種“極簡”手法，表現(xiàn)出來的卻是更加豐富充實(shí)的藝術(shù)內(nèi)涵。

空缺和省略，以及重復(fù)敘述的使用，使小說呈現(xiàn)出多義性，留給讀者更多的思考空間;限制型敘事視角的使用，尤其是卡佛小說中常用的攝影機(jī)式視角和第三人稱人物有限視角，使得小說形成了一個(gè)可供閱讀者自行解讀和闡釋的空間，為文本帶來更為深刻的真實(shí)感的同時(shí)，還能深入作品揭示作品的主題;卡佛小說的對話，對故事的發(fā)展和人物的塑造都有很大作用，那些看似簡潔直白或日常平淡的對話，實(shí)際都蘊(yùn)含著豐富而深刻的意義。

2卡佛短篇小說的主題

一部文學(xué)作品的主題是它的中心觀念或支配性觀念，它既是作家謀篇布局的根本依據(jù)，也是作品的靈魂所在。對于卡佛的作品來說，“極簡”并不意味著要消泯意義，盡管卡佛的創(chuàng)作風(fēng)格極其簡約，但其小說主題卻深具現(xiàn)實(shí)性，盡顯當(dāng)代美國社會(huì)中的人生百態(tài)。20世紀(jì)六七十年代，“后現(xiàn)代主義”盛行于美國文壇，但這類小說通常脫離現(xiàn)實(shí)生活，注重表現(xiàn)技巧，創(chuàng)作風(fēng)格趨于繁復(fù)和怪誕。在這樣的背景下，以貼近現(xiàn)實(shí)生活的“極簡主義”為創(chuàng)作風(fēng)格的新一代作家逐漸展露鋒芒，他們常描繪一些生活在中下層階級(jí)的，時(shí)常陷入某種困境當(dāng)中的人物。如出生于偏遠(yuǎn)小鎮(zhèn)的女作家鮑比·安·梅森，就時(shí)常描寫生活在鄉(xiāng)村或小鎮(zhèn)中的人物;來自中層階級(jí)的女作家安·貝蒂，則擅長表現(xiàn)城郊人民和中層階級(jí)美國人的現(xiàn)實(shí)生活。被稱為“極簡主義之父”的卡佛，通讀他的作品后，我們會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)他用文字向人們展示了一幅生動(dòng)的美國底層社會(huì)生存現(xiàn)實(shí)的畫卷。

在他的筆下，權(quán)貴、商人和上流社會(huì)都難覓蹤影，而經(jīng)歷著失業(yè)、酗酒、離婚等麻煩狀況的貧窮藍(lán)領(lǐng)一族才是主人公?？ǚ鹬詴?huì)將關(guān)注點(diǎn)聚焦在這類人身上，與他的個(gè)人經(jīng)歷有著密不可分的關(guān)系。自幼出生在貧窮的藍(lán)領(lǐng)之家，幾十年的底層生活經(jīng)歷，讓作家對藍(lán)領(lǐng)工人們的生存狀態(tài)有著最深的了解和最真的感受?！肮と穗A級(jí)，或說是中低下產(chǎn)階級(jí)。

后來變成己經(jīng)不再是‘中低下’級(jí)，而成了美國生活里最絕望也最龐大的下層土壤。這些人無法完成他們經(jīng)濟(jì)與道德上的義務(wù)和職責(zé)。就在他們中間，我生活了很長一段時(shí)間?！比缤?dāng)時(shí)美國藍(lán)領(lǐng)一族的“代言人”般，卡佛用他簡約而有張力的文字，客觀而持有冷靜的態(tài)度，描繪出了這些迷失生活方向，喪失自我與信念，空虛而平庸，麻木而冷酷的人們真實(shí)的生存現(xiàn)狀。但也正是因?yàn)榭ǚ饘㈥P(guān)注點(diǎn)放在底層民眾的現(xiàn)實(shí)生活，不少人物及故事在現(xiàn)實(shí)生活中都能找到原型，因此，當(dāng)時(shí)不少評論家將他的小說視為“現(xiàn)實(shí)主義”，甚至有的還認(rèn)為他的小說過于反應(yīng)社會(huì)陰暗面，包含了某些政治因素，有丑化美國的嫌疑，這種將藝術(shù)表現(xiàn)形式與政治因素相聯(lián)系的說法，遭到了卡佛的強(qiáng)烈否認(rèn)，他曾多次表示他的小說描寫的是一種“生存狀態(tài)”，沒有任何既定的其他意圖。

3結(jié)論

1981年卡佛的“極簡主義”代表作《當(dāng)我們談?wù)搻矍闀r(shí)我們在談?wù)撌裁础烦霭婧?，迅速引起了文壇的關(guān)注，也引發(fā)了評論家和讀者們的紛紛議論。一些評論都認(rèn)為這種文風(fēng)過于“貧乏”和“吝音”，甚至批評卡佛的“極簡主義”空洞刻板，千篇一律，沒有個(gè)性。他們賦予“極簡”以貶義，認(rèn)為這類作品形式簡單而缺乏內(nèi)涵。但事實(shí)并非如此?？ǚ鸬摹皹O簡主義”手法極富個(gè)性，而他的作品在“極簡”的表面下也蘊(yùn)含著深刻的主題和豐富的內(nèi)涵。受契訶夫創(chuàng)作理念的影響，卡佛擅長觀察日常生活中的瑣碎事物，并對其作出準(zhǔn)確的描述，因此他被稱為“尋常事物的鑒賞家”?？ǚ饛钠矫竦娜粘Ｉ畛霭l(fā)，最大限度地還原了生活的本貌。他塑造出一個(gè)個(gè)貧窮困頓，迷茫麻木的小人物，并通過對這些人物形象揭示出平民生活的真實(shí)樣態(tài)，挖掘出蘊(yùn)含在日常生活中的生存本質(zhì)。

這些小人物，在殘酷的現(xiàn)實(shí)生活面前，因?yàn)槭I(yè)、酗酒、外遇、離婚等狀況，陷入了生存和精神的雙重困境當(dāng)中，想要努力做出改變卻無能為力，只能焦慮而絕望地掙扎。他們渴望與人真心交流以改變現(xiàn)狀，卻悲哀地發(fā)現(xiàn)，在現(xiàn)實(shí)社會(huì)中人們無論關(guān)系親疏都難以建立長久而有效的正常溝通。人們逐漸喪失了自我表達(dá)和彼此交流的能力，只能自我封閉，更加孤獨(dú)。但作家并沒有只停留在反映社會(huì)的消極陰暗面上。他筆下的小人物們雖然經(jīng)歷著現(xiàn)實(shí)的殘酷與社會(huì)的冷漠，但仍然積極地尋找出路，嘗試真誠的交流。作家和他筆下的人物都有直面生活的勇氣，并堅(jiān)信活著就有希望?？梢哉f，他的小說滲透著作家對人性的關(guān)懷和對生存意義的探討。

在《論寫作》中卡佛曾說:“作家不需要靠?；ㄕ泻唾u弄技巧……作家要有面對簡單的事物，驚訝的張口結(jié)舌的資質(zhì)?！?“極簡”的寫作風(fēng)格和不喜歡在寫作中“?；ㄕ小钡膭?chuàng)作想法，不但沒有使卡佛的短篇小說黯淡失色，反而使他的作品呈現(xiàn)出豐富的內(nèi)涵和獨(dú)特的藝術(shù)特質(zhì)。

第二篇：英文文學(xué)評論,雷蒙德卡佛《大教堂》

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Jing C*** Professor Stephanie Denny English 1102 26 September 2015

Isolation and Reunion The novel “Cathedral” was written by American Minimalistwriter and poet Raymond Carver in 1982.After a thorough analysis of “Cathedral”, one can understand the fictional construction of its charactersandcomprehend the purpose of the theme presentedin this novel.Throughout the conflict between the narrator “I”, his wife and the blind man, Carver shows the significance of “Cathedral”, which symbolizes love, hope and redemption.In the opening of the story, Carver highlights the main characters common bond of solitude.Although they share that similarity, they are all very different.Initially, Narrator “I” hadan active relationship with his wife, but as time passed he became more and more isolated, apatheticand lonesome.Carver usesunreliable first person characterthe “I” totalkabout his wife’s past in regards toher mental activity.Itmeans they had always maintained a great line of communication with each other;his wifealways opened up to him about herself.Carver never explains how the couple began to separate and become indifferent with one another.It may have been the stress of his job, or the dullness of his life altogether, butthe “I” began to isolate himself from his wife and everyone else.He was did not have a social life or friends for that matter;something that was discovered during a conversation between he and his wife.Instead, the“I” would comfort himself by indulging in alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and TV shows.The culture of television is also an important part of Carver’s works “Simmons argues that television's presence in Carver's stories signals two things:

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a moral vacuity and historical superficiality in the lives of characters attributable in part to television's evisceration of historical “depth” in their lives”(Mullen 52).It was during this time thata poor blind man chosethe “perfect” time to visit an old friend, the “I’s” wife.During the blind man’s visit, the narrator andhost“I” become defensive and display resentment against the friendship between his wife and the blind man because the blind touched his wife 10 years ago, “She told me he touched his fingers to every part of her face, her nose---even her neck!She never forgot it”(104).Although the blind man has never occupy her, the “I” still feels very mind of this old friend of her because “the sense of touch is more intrinsic than vision”(Armour 145), furthermore, they kept touch in the past ten years.So when the blind man arrives at his house, all readers can smells narrator’s antipathy, “This blind man, feature this, he was wearing a full beard!A beard on a blind man!Too much, I say”(106).Start from here, the conflict is set at the beginning of the story.The second character in this story is the narrator’s wife.She considered suicide in her first marriage and now she’s suffering another lonely marriage due to lack communications with her husband.Carver showcases her current badmarriage through contrast it with her friendship with blind man.“Over the years, she put all kinds of stuff on tapes and sent the tapes off lickety-split…She and I began going out, and of course she told her blind man about it.She told him everything”(105).Carver doesn’t give any clear and direct reasoningto explain why this couple’s relationship is crumbling, buthe writes, “Once she asked me if I’d like to hear the latest tape from the blind man…I said okay… We were interrupted, a knock at the door, and we didn’t ever get back to the tape.I’d heard all I wanted to”(105).From here, readers should know the answer, the “I” doesn’t care about her and her tapes and he doesn’t care for the blind man as well.Therefore, the blind’s visit sharpens the conflictsof the story.Chuai 3

The third character, as well as the key character of “Cathedral” is the blind man.He isalso isolated, but dissimilar from the narrator who is self-isolating and his wife who is isolated by her husband.The Blind man is isolated by the social discrimination and biases.“He was no one I knew…My idea of blind man came from the movies.In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed…A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to”(104);“…Beulah and the blind man had themselves a church wedding…just the two of them, plus the minister and the minister’s wife”(106).Unfortunately, this blind man visits this inhospitable host, and without a doubt, the narrator is very impolite to him.In response to the “I’s” hostility, theblindman demonstrates his tolerance as well as intelligence.When the “I” sneers at him with the sites of the Hudson River sight viewing boat, he changes the topic tactfully to his “distinguishedbeard(107)”.When the “I” talks about the changing the TV channel, the blind replies, “Whatever you want to watch is okay…Learning never ends… I got ears”(110).The blind man also doesn’t refusemarijuana when offered a smoke from the “I”.He simply replies, “There’s a first time for everything”(109).Thus it can be understood that all responses from the blind man are very friendly and open-minded.No matter how cruel his life, and no matter how poorly people have treated him, the blind man always remains positive and optimistic.Carver gives blind man a character that is completely accepting of reality, which is the opposite ofthe “I”.The conflict is sharpened by the contrast between the two different characters---the insightful blind man and isolated normal vision the “I”.Finally, when the story reachesthe climax, Carver shows the readers his finalredemption---Cathedral.What is the cathedral symbolize in this story?First it represents the life, “If somebody says cathedral to you, do you have any notion what they’re talking about”, “I know they took hundreds of workers fifty to hundred years to build…they never lived to see the completion of

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their work.In that wise, bub, they’re no different from the rest of us, right?”(111).Secondly, the cathedral represents faith, which was once heldby people but is now lost.“In those olden days, when they built cathedrals, men wanted to be close to God…God was an important part of life…I don’t believe in it, in any thing”(111).Lastly, the cathedral also represents the hope and love in blind man’s faith.Church is mentioned twice in this story, once at blind man’s wedding, and again during the TV show.Although the blind man can’t see the building of cathedral, he already knows the meaning of it.The cathedralrepresents the most essential regression of human interaction.The blind man wants to enticethe narrator with it, showing the“I” how amazing the cathedral looks like in his mind: as happiness, love and hope.At the close of the story, “I” finds his perfect cathedral in his mind with his eyes closed.“His concerns are the relationship between sight and insight, the mind’s eye and the theme of blindness, the disjunction between the eye of the artist and the production of the artist’s hand.The works, all of which appear in the text, are of several varieties: depiction of blindness, relation of blindindividuals to their environment, blindness cured, blindness that brings insight, the self-portrait and self-portrait series and its diachronic relationship to landscape portraiture.”(Forman)Carver’s story represents a minimalistic-style novel.Carver hopes this story can help every confused and isolated personfind hope, love and begin to reestablish healthy forms of communication.He realizesmany peopleisolate themselves from crowds, such as the narrator.Carver gives the solution of how to return each isolated individualback to the world: hope,while finding the homeland of the soul, which is the cathedral.Works Cited

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Raymond, Carver.“Cathedral.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing.Ed.X.J Kennedy and Dana Gioia.8th Compact Ed.New York: Pearson, 2016.415-16.Print.Mullen, Bill.“A Subtle Spectacle: Televisual Culture inthe Short Stories of Raymond Carver.” Critique 39.2(1998): 99.Academic Search Complete.Web.21 Sept.2015.Armour, Leslie.“Paper Machine/On Touching--Jean-Luc Nancy.” Library Journal 130.14(2005): 145-146.Literary Reference Center.Web.21 Sept.2015.Forman, Robert J.“Memoirs ofthe Blind.” Magill’S Literary Annual 1995(1995): 1-3.Literary Reference Center.Web.21 Sept.2015.

第三篇：雷蒙德卡佛短篇小說研究論文

1引言

雷蒙德·卡佛是美國二十世紀(jì)八十年代短篇小說復(fù)興的主將，他擅以簡約文風(fēng)描繪后工業(yè)時(shí)代美國中下層階級(jí)的凡庸生活，被譽(yù)為“美國中產(chǎn)階級(jí)的契訶夫”?？ǚ鹕糜趶男∪宋锏娜粘，嵤轮型敢暼诵缘你Ｖ?、命運(yùn)的無常和“存在”的冷峻。他是一位以“他者鏡像”寫自我迷失，以失敗人生對比美好理想，以沉默和含混暗示情感之綿延及“存在”之無限的作家。

本文在探索雷蒙德.卡佛短篇小說人物精神特質(zhì)的基礎(chǔ)上，辨析其短篇小說的獨(dú)特藝術(shù)魅力。卡佛筆下“自我迷失者”的形象，分析卡佛短篇小說中主體與他者之間的鏡像關(guān)系，并揭示其文本內(nèi)部的欲望機(jī)制;第二章側(cè)重分析卡佛筆下的“夢想失落者”的精神質(zhì)地，解讀卡佛筆下小人物們面對生存困境時(shí)的自我救贖之道;

透視美國后現(xiàn)代社會(huì)的人際冷漠和交流障礙的內(nèi)在原因，并在此基礎(chǔ)上解析卡佛小說中的作者-讀者的合作關(guān)系。本文注重在文本細(xì)讀的基礎(chǔ)上使卡佛與其他短篇大師的藝術(shù)特質(zhì)構(gòu)成比較關(guān)系，將其小說藝術(shù)的美學(xué)辨析建立在美國文學(xué)傳統(tǒng)和世界短篇小說傳統(tǒng)的基礎(chǔ)上;在探索小說主題的同時(shí)貫穿敘事技巧的分析，避免形式與內(nèi)容的二元割裂;立足于現(xiàn)實(shí)語境談?wù)摽ǚ鸲唐芯康囊饬x。

2自我的迷失

“追尋自我”一直是美國文學(xué)的重要母題。從杰克·倫敦筆下的馬丁·伊登到海明威筆下的尼克，從馬克。吐溫筆下的湯姆和哈克貝利到凱魯亞克筆下的迪安和薩姆，硬漢和牛仔們延續(xù)著美國民族精神中自我意志的神話。然而，這僅僅是美國文學(xué)關(guān)于“主體性”的一種正面書寫，其反面是菲茨杰拉德、安德森.舍伍德等人有關(guān)“自我迷失”文學(xué)主題的創(chuàng)作。進(jìn)入二十世紀(jì)后半葉，當(dāng)全球化的進(jìn)程逐步展開，處于動(dòng)蕩不安后現(xiàn)代轉(zhuǎn)型期的美國資本主義社會(huì)，個(gè)體自我身份的迷失以及因此引發(fā)的焦慮成為新型的時(shí)代精神癥候，“主體與他者”的關(guān)系問題也得到了重新審視和梳理。

這一時(shí)期的主客體關(guān)系己經(jīng)不再聚焦于一味高扮主體性的笛卡爾式的“我思”之上了。尼采的“上帝已死”在后現(xiàn)代思想家那里演變?yōu)椤爸黧w已死”的“去/無中心化”哲學(xué)，“他者”問題被提到了前所未有的重要位置:?？乱灾R(shí)考古學(xué)揭露了主體和理性的虛構(gòu)性，通過對瘋癲的分析為“沉默的他者”平反昭雪;拉康的鏡像理論揭示了大/小他者對主體的篡位;德里達(dá)拆毀了結(jié)構(gòu)主義者的同一性幻想，在解構(gòu)思維中確立他者的絕對差異性。

有關(guān)“自我迷失”的文學(xué)母題在這一時(shí)期也發(fā)生了擅變。作家筆下主體與他者的關(guān)系裹挾在上述思潮之中，呈現(xiàn)出新的面貌。作為美國后工業(yè)社會(huì)底層生活的見證人，卡佛的短篇小說創(chuàng)作也不免受到時(shí)代思潮和精神氛圍的影響。

卡佛筆下的自我迷失者不再是菲茨杰拉德筆下蓋茨比式的人物，在愛情的夢想中徹底喪失了自我;也不是舍伍德·安德森筆下的小鎮(zhèn)畸人，執(zhí)拗地封閉著為精神創(chuàng)傷所扭曲的自我?？ǚ鸸P下的小人物是一群掙扎在充滿不確定性生活中的底層大眾，他們的主體性或迷失于他者鏡像的欲望迷宮之中，或?yàn)椤皬?qiáng)勢他者”所篡奪。

失落的夢想與世俗化慰藉第一節(jié)卡佛短篇小說中的夢想失落者約翰·史密斯(Captain John Smith)在1616年出版的《新英格蘭概述》中將美國描寫成一塊物產(chǎn)富饒的新大陸，那里沒有歐洲日大陸的歷史重負(fù)，也沒有其復(fù)雜的階級(jí)關(guān)系:“人人，或者大部分人，在很短的時(shí)間里，都可以成為自己的勞動(dòng)和土地的主人與所有者。這種對美國天然優(yōu)越性的看法后來逐漸演變成有關(guān)“美國夢”的國家神話:這片“應(yīng)許之地”充滿了各種可能性，每個(gè)人只要通過不懈的奮斗和經(jīng)營，就可能獲得自由、平等、獨(dú)立和富足的幸福生活。

“美國夢”是一種有關(guān)民族國家烏托邦的自我想象，它根植在美國人的意識(shí)深處，也是美國文學(xué)幾百年來不變的主題之一。但是，作家們有關(guān)“美國夢”的書寫卻不純粹是正面稱頌式的。事實(shí)上，對“美國夢”的虛幻性與腐蝕性，美國式盲目樂觀主義的揭露、反思和批判一直以來也都是美國作家們的重要使命。如果說馬克·吐溫筆下的哈克貝利·費(fèi)恩以及海明威筆下的桑提亞哥代表了美國精神外拓式的、征服性的陽性力量;那么菲茨杰拉德筆下爵士時(shí)代紅男綠女們浮華而空虛的人生，契佛筆下綠茵山鎮(zhèn)死水微瀾的中產(chǎn)階級(jí)家庭生活，則反映出“夢想”與“現(xiàn)實(shí)”之間的差距，代表了美國文學(xué)內(nèi)向式的、反思性的陰性力量。20世紀(jì)，在經(jīng)歷了資本主義世界經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)、大蕭條時(shí)代以及兩次世界大戰(zhàn)之后，美國傳統(tǒng)中樂觀自信的精神逐漸消散。

3沉默的言說

第一節(jié)卡佛短篇小說中的沉默者阿瑟M.薩爾茨曼在《理解雷蒙德·卡佛》一書中援引威廉·卡洛兒·威廉斯《裴特森》中的話語來闡釋卡佛筆下小人物們無可名狀的痛苦:“他們的言語消失在被囚禁的交流欲望之中，”確乎如此?？ǚ鸸P下掙扎在破碎生活邊緣的小人物們均有程度不等的溝通障礙癥。當(dāng)他們的內(nèi)心世界受到來自生活災(zāi)難性變化的沖擊時(shí)，支離破碎的情感和思緒不斷地積聚，卻無法找到恰當(dāng)?shù)某隹?。于是，暴力或沉默便成了他們?nèi)心狀態(tài)的外在呈現(xiàn)方式。在卡佛的短篇小說中，無論是“沉默”還是“暴力氣都代表了人物內(nèi)在自我的異化和言說能力的缺席。從某種意義上說，“暴力”亦是另一種形態(tài)的“沉默”。它是一種扭曲、外化了的“沉默”，它以物理性的攻擊行為取代了符號(hào)性的言說行為。事實(shí)上，在卡佛的短篇小說中，直露的暴力宣泄并不多見。

對于卡佛筆下那些飽受生活磨難的底層人來說，“沉默”才是他們面對各種困境時(shí)的常態(tài)?！俺聊痹诳ǚ鸲唐≌f人物的對話中扮演了至關(guān)重要角色。它或者暗示了人物的自我封閉狀態(tài)，或者暗示了人物的語言表達(dá)障礙?？ǚ鹦≌f對話中的“沉默”不同于海明威的“儉省”。

海明威短篇小說的人物對話過程盡管出現(xiàn)了大量空白，但對話雙方卻能夠互相理解，反而是讀者被置于理解的盲點(diǎn)中而不得不自行串聯(lián)意義的斷片。卡佛短篇小說人物的對話方式實(shí)現(xiàn)了對“海明威式對話”的反轉(zhuǎn):讀者能夠根據(jù)作者的提示，理解文本中人物的處境及其無法言表的內(nèi)心痛苦。但是，小說中的人物卻陷入了錯(cuò)愕迷惘之中，既無法理解自身的處境也無法使自己的痛苦為他人所理解。

第四篇：Cathedral Raymond Carver(《大教堂》雷蒙德.卡佛)

Cathedral Raymond Carver

大教堂

雷蒙德．卡佛 文章中英文分析

《大教堂》是他最著名的短篇之一。主人公的妻子多年來與一位盲人朋友保持聯(lián)系。一次，盲人朋友終于要來拜訪這對夫婦，妻子興致勃勃，主人公卻非但不激動(dòng)，反而竭力克制自己毫無理由的敵意和鄙夷。和其他一些故事一樣，主人公對生活這種無所謂和厭棄相混合的態(tài)度，始終是個(gè)沒有提示的謎題。除了從卡佛自己的生活經(jīng)歷入手，恐怕很難找到別的解釋。《大教堂》結(jié)尾，主人公在閉著眼睛和盲人一起畫畫的過程中，繃緊的神經(jīng)終于放松下來。不是四兩撥千斤，而是花大量篇幅在天平一端放了過多郁悶之后，在另一端放一茶匙淡淡的歡欣意思意思。然而，這便是雷蒙德·卡佛。

Cathedral Summary “Cathedral” opens with the narrator telling the reader in a conversational tone that a blind friend of his wife's is coming to visit them.The narrator is clearly unhappy about the upcoming visit.He then flashes back to the story of how his wife met the blind man when she worked for him as a reader.At the time, she was engaged to marry an officer in the Air Force.When she tells the blind man goodbye, he asks if he can touch her face.The touch of his fingers on her face is a pivotal moment in her life, something the narrator does not understand.Although his wife has maintained contact with the blind man for ten years, this will be the first time she has seen him since her marriage, subsequent divorce, and remarriage.Robert, the blind man, has just lost his wife and will be traveling to Connecticut to visit with her family.Along the way he will spend the night at the home of the narrator and his wife.His wife tells the narrator that Robert and his wife, Beulah, were inseparable.Themes Alienation and Loneliness Like the characters in many of Carver's works, the main characters experience, or have experienced, alienation and loneliness.The narrator is unhappy in his work, jealous of his wife, and unconnected to other human beings.In addition to not being connected to others himself, he seems to resent his wife's connections to other people as well.When he speaks of the impending visit by the blind man he states, ''I wasn' t enthusiastic about his visit...A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.’’ Further, once Robert arrives...The narrator is not an articulate man;consequently, the narration is filled with gaps that the reader must fill in.“Cathedral” Plot Summary The story’s narrator informs the readers that a friend of his wife’s, a man who happens to be blind, is on his way to visit.The narrator is not enthusiastic about the visit because blind people make the narrator uncomfortable, mainly because the narrator has no real experience with the blind.In addition to his uneasiness with the blind, the narrator is uncomfortable with his wife’s relationship with the blind man.The wife and Robert, the blind man, have maintained a close relationship via tape recordings mailed back and forth, and the narrator finds this unsettling.Despite the narrator’s feelings about the visit, Robert shows up, and the three of them dine together, and Robert and the narrator get to know each other.Characters Robert: Robert, the blind man, is a long-time friend of the narrator’s wife.Robert has maintained a close relationship with the narrator’s wife since she worked for him years ago.Since then, they have stayed in touch.Robert works hard to get to know that narrator, too, while he is visiting them, pushing the narrator to talk and interact with him, bringing the narrator out of his shell of closed-off ignorance.The narrator’s wife also seems to have some internal struggle, mainly due to what is divulged about her past.She was married before and suffered from loneliness.She has attempted suicide in the past, and now she is in a difficult marriage once again.Surely, had the story been told from her perspective, the depths of her internal struggle would be brought further to light.At the end of “Cathedral,” the narrator has a life-changing moment, or an epiphany, while trying to tell Robert what a cathedral looks like.The narrator, when first trying to explain what the cathedral looks like, struggles for the words.However, upon Robert’s encouragement, loosens up, and draws the cathedral with Robert, guiding his hand with a pencil onto paper.This is a close personal connection and intimate moment of communication for the narrator, and it impacts him greatly.The narrator is able to connect with Robert, and this is the moment where the narrator can put aside his insecurities and actually interact with someone else.It changes the narrator;he says, “It was like nothing else in my life up to now”(Carver 108).Throughout Cathedral, the boundaries the narrator has placed on his interaction and communication with others are eroded by Robert’s patient persistence in getting to know him.As a result, the narrator confronts his own insecurities and misconceptions, not just about Robert and the blind, but also about his own ability to interact with others.

第五篇：小說語言藝術(shù)論文

一、語言的直觀藝術(shù)

海明威在創(chuàng)作|過程中，非常善于通過語言文字的直觀性使讀者能夠感受到當(dāng)時(shí)真實(shí)的場景。在讀者閱讀任何一篇文章的過程中，最開始映入眼簾的是文字，文字的直觀性很強(qiáng)，記載了作品的全部內(nèi)容，因此，文字給讀者的震撼力可想而知。直觀的文字不管是心理感受還是視覺感染，表達(dá)出來的內(nèi)涵會(huì)更加貼切，更加豐富。比如想要表達(dá)一個(gè)人非常傷心，不僅可以利用“sad”，而且可以采用“unhap-py”，雖然這兩個(gè)詞語的含義相同，但是“unhappy”相對于“sad”而言，不僅可以使人們感染到悲傷的情緒，而且可以使讀者的印象更加深刻，給讀者預(yù)留一定的思想空間。比如在《老人與?！分校鑼懤先松Ｌ醽喐绾湍贻p黑人掰手腕的情境，海明威主要采用了沒有加任何標(biāo)點(diǎn)的長句來描寫，中間沒有任何停頓，因此每一位讀者讀后都會(huì)產(chǎn)生一種刺激、緊張、恐懼等心理，甚至能體會(huì)到掰手腕后的疲憊。這種直觀語言可以更加引起讀者的切身體驗(yàn)和思考。當(dāng)然，語言的直觀化并不在于句子的長短，比如在《老人與?！分?，海明威利用短句也同樣達(dá)到了很好的視覺化效果。在小說中描述到，老人和大馬林魚之間雖然進(jìn)行了一天一夜的搏斗已經(jīng)精疲力竭，但老人仍然一次又一次拉它回來，在整個(gè)堅(jiān)持的過程中描寫的簡短精練的句子一方面呈現(xiàn)了老人非常疲憊的狀態(tài)，另一方面也為讀者呈現(xiàn)了一種堅(jiān)持不懈、努力拼搏的情境，增強(qiáng)了讀者的心理、視覺感受。又比如在《白象似的群山》中，為了阻止男青年再說話，姑娘居然連用7個(gè)“求求你”，這種語言表達(dá)相比任何修飾都更加能夠體現(xiàn)姑娘此時(shí)厭煩、忐忑的心理。

二、語言的口語藝術(shù)

根據(jù)語言發(fā)展層面分析，口語在書面語發(fā)展之前便已經(jīng)存在，書面語相比口語而言更加具有規(guī)范性、規(guī)律性、統(tǒng)一性，很多讀者讀完之后，思想容易被禁錮，慢慢地也會(huì)失去閱讀興趣。但是口語的最大特點(diǎn)是直覺性、生動(dòng)性、活躍性，能夠真實(shí)、準(zhǔn)確地表達(dá)出人們的社會(huì)生活感受和內(nèi)心思想情感，生命力較強(qiáng)，更加能夠刺激人們的大腦語言神經(jīng)，提高讀者的興奮性。海明威在文學(xué)創(chuàng)作過程中非常喜歡運(yùn)用一些日常用語、街頭俚語、民間俗語等，這些口語化的語言結(jié)構(gòu)更加單純，句子簡短，節(jié)奏也非常鮮明，和美國中西部人民口頭語言比較接近，更加能夠引起讀者的共鳴。比如在《殘殺》中，“says，”hesaid，“whatthehell？“”Tohellwiththeclock,”thefirstmansaid，that’sabellofareason.海明威利用了很多俚語、俗語。同時(shí)，海明威也喜歡采用一些常用的粗話，在《弗朗西斯麥康伯短暫的幸福生活》中描寫了麥康伯知道妻子偷情后的一段問話，其中麥康伯脫口而出：“你干的好事，真該死?！边@句口語非常準(zhǔn)確地描述了男主人公的性格，讀者也能夠體會(huì)此時(shí)男主人公非常暴躁、憤怒的心情，感覺非常貼切。這是書面語不可比擬的獨(dú)特優(yōu)勢。

三、語言的可視化藝術(shù)

海明威不是藝術(shù)家，也不是哲學(xué)家，通過拜讀海明威的作品，并不會(huì)感到藝術(shù)家們對于藝術(shù)生活的無限向往和不切實(shí)際的抽象表達(dá)，也不會(huì)體會(huì)到哲學(xué)家那樣思考生活，而是通過客觀描寫事物外觀來表達(dá)情感的一種藝術(shù)體現(xiàn)，不僅可以把讀者和作家的距離拉近，而且可以引起情感的共鳴，產(chǎn)生真實(shí)的視覺感受。海明威常常會(huì)利用一些可視化語言仔細(xì)描寫事物外形，并且提出并不能通過抽象的思辨以及理智客觀描摹事物外觀，只可以憑借自己的直覺，根據(jù)自己的感性思考和體會(huì)對事物的聲音、顏色、形狀進(jìn)行描摹，然后將其呈現(xiàn)給讀者，讓讀者自己去探索、感悟、思考。比如《乞力馬扎羅的雪》中，作者以主人公的視角對于自己所觀察到的平原、樹木、大鳥、含羞草、影子等一些事物進(jìn)行直觀描摹，讓讀者能夠感受到廣袤無垠的草原，展翅翱翔的大鳥，在陽光下投射的影子，使讀者感覺非常真切、直觀。又比如《雨中的貓》中，描寫一段下雨的場景，其中描寫了海水、雨水、棕櫚樹、紀(jì)念碑、積水等事物，雨水、海水的動(dòng)靜結(jié)合，各種事物形成了一幅極為豐富、色彩鮮明、生動(dòng)形象的圖畫。物象的清晰度高，語言可視化程度高，因此在簡樸的語言環(huán)境中才蘊(yùn)含著豐富的物象，令人回味無窮。

四、語言的含蓄藝術(shù)

海明威在進(jìn)行文學(xué)創(chuàng)作的過程中，常常會(huì)采用可視化、直觀、樸實(shí)的語言完整表達(dá)出描寫的內(nèi)容，至于深層次的情感需要讀者自己深入思考、體會(huì)，這也是海明威語言藝術(shù)魅力獨(dú)特之處。海明威可以使有限的文字承載豐富的內(nèi)涵，通過一些簡約的物象來傳達(dá)出自己深厚熾熱的情感，將一些復(fù)雜的情感通過更加含蓄婉約的語言形式表達(dá)出來。海明威在這些可視化語言中含蓄地融合了自己多年來的生活感悟，讀者在閱讀的時(shí)候不僅能體會(huì)到作者的心境，而且可以為自己預(yù)留一個(gè)思考、想象的空間，感受新的體會(huì)。比如《第十個(gè)印第安人》中，有一個(gè)場景描寫了男主人公在知道自己女友已經(jīng)愛上別人的情況下的傷心情境，文中寫了夜間樹林里的風(fēng)聲、湖面水聲，進(jìn)而寫到早上起了更大的風(fēng)，湖濱已經(jīng)被漲潮的湖水無情漫過。最后主人公發(fā)現(xiàn)自己心碎了。這個(gè)場景的描寫后來在電影中得到廣泛應(yīng)用，主要是為了表達(dá)一個(gè)失戀者傷心、支離破碎的心情。這個(gè)場景沒有正面描寫主人公的傷心、難過，而是非常含蓄地通過風(fēng)聲、水聲等來描寫主人公心情的起伏跌宕，悲慟欲絕，表達(dá)了作者無盡的語言，使這種傷心欲絕的情緒達(dá)到高潮。海明威是現(xiàn)代新文體風(fēng)格、新語言的創(chuàng)造者，其獨(dú)樹一幟的語言藝術(shù)風(fēng)格令其他作家紛紛折服，對當(dāng)時(shí)美國文學(xué)乃至整個(gè)世界的文學(xué)都造成了極其重要的影響。海明威的語言樸實(shí)無華、直觀性強(qiáng)、口語化、可視化較強(qiáng)、含蓄精練，是世界語言寶庫的一筆重要財(cái)富。我國文學(xué)家應(yīng)進(jìn)一步深入探究海明威小說的語言藝術(shù)，推動(dòng)我國文學(xué)的進(jìn)一步發(fā)展。