幻想、破灭、顿悟、成长-解读《阿拉比》中的成长主题_英语论文

Fantasy, Disillusion, Epiphany and Maturity—On the Initiation Theme in “Araby”

摘要

詹姆斯•乔伊斯( James Joyce)，爱尔兰著名小说家，意识流小说的杰出大师，现代主义文学的开拓者和代表作家。他的早期作品《都柏林人》是一部由十五个故事组成的现实主义短篇小说集。作品以作者的家乡都柏林为背景，从童年期、青年期、成年期和社会生活四个方面生动地描绘了二十世纪初该城市的社会现实和人生百态，深刻地反映出当时社会麻木不仁的瘫痪状态。《阿拉比》是该小说集中“童年期”的第三篇，描述的是一个男孩对朦胧爱情的浪漫追求以及幻想破灭后的失望和痛苦。

在《阿拉比》中，作者通过对一个男孩成长经历的描写揭示出当时社会的瘫痪和压抑。此篇小说的篇幅不长却寓意深刻，很多专家和学者都对此从小说的主题、作者的叙述手法和象征艺术等方面进行了研究。但通过文献梳理不难发现，这些研究很少触及该小说的成长主题。因此，本课题试图从成长小说的角度，从幻想、破灭、顿悟、成长四方面探讨小说的成长主题，分析男孩从幻想到现实的心灵之旅和其成长过程中的各种精神困惑和顿悟成长，并进一步探究当时社会的瘫痪和压抑以及对青少年成长的影响。

关键词: 《阿拉比》；成长小说；男孩；成长

Abstract

James Joyce, regarded as the famous Irish novelist, the outstanding master of the stream of consciousness, is the pioneer and representative writer of modernist literature. His early works, Dubliners, is a collection of realistic short stories, consisting of fifteen stories. The works is based on the author’s hometown—Dublin. From the four aspects of childhood, adolescence, adulthood and social life, it vividly describes the city’s social reality and the vicissitudes of life that deeply reflected the social petrified state of paralysis at the beginning of the 20th century. “Araby” is the third story in the “childhood” of its collection. It describes the romantic pursuit of a boy and his disappointment and pain after disillusion.

In “Araby”, through the description of a boy’s growth experience, the author intends to reveal the social paralysis and repression. Although it is not long, it has profound meanings. Many experts and scholars have carried out research on its theme, the author’s narrative technique and symbolic art. However, it is not difficult to find through the literature review that these studies have rarely touched the theme of growth of the story. Therefore, from the perspective of initiation novel, this paper aims to explore the theme of growth of the story from four aspects by analyzing the boy’s spiritual journey from fantasy to reality and his growth process in a variety of mental confusion and epiphany growth, so as to explore the social paralysis and depression, as well as the impact on the growth of young people.

Keywords:  “Araby”  initiation story  boy  growth

Contents

Acknowledgments I

Abstract II

摘要 III

Chapter One Introduction 1

1.1 Introduction to James Joyce 1

1.2 Introduction to Dubliners and “Araby” 1

1.3 Literature Review 2

1.4 Thesis Structure 4

Chapter Two Initiation Novel 5

2.1 Definition and Origin of Initiation Novel 5

2.2 Features of Initiation Novel 5

Chapter Three The Little Boy’s Initiation Process 7

3.1 Fantasy 7

3.1.1The Boy’s Vague Romantic Desire for Mangan’s Sister 7

3.1.2 The Boy’s Fantasy of “Araby” 7

3.2 Disillusion 8

3.2.1 Disillusion of Realistic Love 8

3.2.2 Disillusion of “Araby” 9

3.3 Epiphany 9

3.4 Maturity 10

3.4.1 Awaking of Self Consciousness 10

3.4.2 Awaking of Social Consciousness 11

Chapter Four Reasons for the Boy’s Painful and Struggling Growth 12

4.1 Lack of Good Social Environment 12

4.2 Lack of Guides 12

4.3 Lack of Companions 13

Chapter Five Conclusion 14

References 15