消费主义影响下的美国郊区书写-论乔纳森·弗兰岑《纠正》的主题研究_英语论文

American Suburban Writing Under Consumerism——A Thematic Study of Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections

摘要

《纠正》(2001)是由美国著名小说家乔纳森·弗兰岑所著的一部杰出的现实主义小说，曾于2001年荣获美国国家图书奖，并奠定了弗兰岑作为美国文学大师之一的地位。小说以虚构的郊区城市圣裘德为中心，描绘了兰博特一家跨越半个世纪的人生挣扎与家庭纠葛，揭示了20世纪末到21世纪初转型时期，美国郊区中产阶级个体，家庭及社会文化在消费主义下所受的影响。本文将以鲍德里亚的消费社会理论为出发点，围绕消费行为所带来的符号意义，结合小说展现的美国郊区家庭生活，对《纠正》中主要人物命运，家庭关系及美国郊区社会文化三方面进行分析，旨在透视郊区居民和中产阶级家庭，探讨在转型时期消费观念下的美国郊区万象及其影响。

本文由五个部分组成。前言主要介绍作者弗兰岑及其主要作品，文献综述以及鲍德里亚消费社会理论。正文部分包含三个章节，第一章以小说中两位主人公，次子奇普·兰伯特和小女儿丹尼斯·兰伯特为例，他们代表了消费社会下被扭曲的郊区居民命运和追求感官刺激和虚荣生活的病态价值观。第二章剖析郊区老一辈夫妇阿尔弗雷德和伊妮德，及其长子加里和妻子卡罗琳组成的两个典型家庭。在消费主义下，传统郊区家庭美德，夫妻关系，亲子关系均被不同程度地破坏。第三章从社会层面，将郊区小镇圣裘德及兰伯特一家放置于美国郊区社会与文化中进行研究，揭示了消费主义影响下美国郊区社会意识平静表面下价值观失衡的状态。

最后一章为结论部分，得出消费主义对美国郊区文化形成产生了深刻影响，并对美国郊区居民身心形成了双重腐蚀这一结论，也为中国郊区居民应对消费主义入侵提供了借鉴。

关键词：乔纳森·弗兰岑；《纠正》；消费主义；美国郊区

Abstract

The Corrections (2001) is a remarkable work of American novelist Jonathan Franzen, who received the National Book Award in 2001 as one of the masters of American literature. Through critical realism, this story centers on the fictional suburban town St. Jude, depicting the disputes and struggles of the Lambert for half a century. It reveals consumerism’s impact on middle class individuals, families and social culture during the transitional period from the late 20th to the early 21th century of America. Based on Baudrillard's theory of consumer society and the symbolic meaning of consumer behavior, this paper will deeply discuss the fates of protagonists, family relationships and American suburban society and culture combined with the consumer society so as to further explore the suburban society and the influence of consumerism under the transitional consumption idea.

This paper is composed of five parts. The introduction part presents the information of Jonathan Franzen and his major works, literature review and consumerism theory. The body part embodies three chapters. Chapter One takes Chip Lambert and Denis Lambert as examples to discuss the distorted fates and pathological values of suburban individuals under consumerism. The second chapter analyzes two typical families of Alfred and Gary to interpret the damage of traditional family merits, marital relations and parenthood. The third chapter dissects St. Jude and the life of the Lambert combined with American suburban culture to uncover the imbalance of value in American suburb under its peaceful surface.

Finally, the last part summarizes the whole thesis. The final conclusion is drawn that consumerism has a profound impact on the formation of American suburban culture, and has damaged the health of American suburban individuals physically and mentally, which also serves as a reference for Chinese suburban residents to respond to the invasion of consumerism.

Key Words: Jonathan Franzen; The Corrections; Consumerism; American suburb 

Contents

Acknowledgments I

摘  要 II

Abstract III

Contents IV

Introduction 1

Chapter One The Suburban Individuals Under Consumerism 4

1.1 Chip Lambert : The Suburban Male Youth 4

1.2 Denise·Lambert : The Freedom Chaser 5

Chapter Two The Suburban Family Relations Under Consumerism 7

2.1 Family of Alfred and Enid: The Old Generation 7

2.2 Family of Gary and Caroline: The Young Generation 8

Chapter Three The Suburban Society Under Consumerism 10

3.1 Suburban Features of St. Jude and the Lambert 10

3.2 American Suburban Culture in Consumer Society 11

Conclusion 13

Bibliography 15