从文体学的角度解读小说《献给艾米莉的玫瑰》_英语论文

A Stylistic Analysis of A Rose for Emily

摘要

《献给艾米丽的玫瑰》是福克纳的经典代表作之一，叙事风格与角度都较奇特。小说讲述了落寞的南方贵族艾米莉“哥特式”的爱情和她畸形又悲惨的一生。主人公由于父亲的严苛、贵族的傲慢和家族尊严的束缚，拒绝了所有追求者，三十岁依然单身。父亲死后，她拒绝与外界联系，精神世界开始坍塌。之后，出身卑微的霍默·巴伦出现并成为她的爱人，但巴伦无情的离开彻底摧毁了艾米莉的精神世界。之后，她选择了极其变态却自以为能够留住一切美好的方式度过余生--毒死巴伦，并足不出户与尸体相伴到死。她悲恨的一生象征着南方落没贵族的悲惨结局，作者笔下的艾米莉也是一个可悲时代的缩影，是对当时美国南方社会的一声叹息。

本研究根据文体分析理论,采用定性研究的方法，对小说《献给艾米莉的玫瑰》的篇章特征进行文体分析。该文旨在研究福克纳这篇具有代表性的小说的文体特征，以帮助喜欢福克纳作品的读者更加准确地理解和欣赏他的作品。

本文主要按照“描写---阐释---评价”三步骤。主体部分从词汇、句法、篇章和修辞手法等方面展开分析和讨论。词汇层面的分析包括名词,动词和形容词；句法层面主要围绕复杂长句和简单短句；篇章层面主要涉及篇章的衔接与语篇的连贯问题；修辞手法层面的分析主要是比喻以及象征手法的使用。通过文体学不同层面的分析,本研究发现，小说在选词和选择句式等方面倾向使用具体和简单的形式，增强语言的画面感，让读者阅读的同时在脑海中生成生动鲜活的画面，从而使小说的叙述具有极强的表现性，有助于拉近读者与故事的距离，这也正是福克纳写作的主要特点之一。

关键词：献给艾米莉的玫瑰；篇章特征；文体分析

Abstract

A Rose for Emily is one of William Faulkner’s greatest short stories, and well-known for its special stylistic features and perspective. It tells about a “Gothic” love and a misery life of Miss Emily from a southern fallen noble family. For her father’s strict rules, her pride and dignity as a noble woman, she turned down nearly all those who courted her. After her father’s death, her world began to collapse. Long time passed, she came out again with a Yankee foreman, Homer Barron, whom she put all her love and hope on. However Homer left her at last, which led to a total collapse of her world. Under the unbearable painfulness and desperation, an extremely cruel way crossed her mind. She killed Homer to defend her happiness. Since then, she isolated herself and lived lonely in her old house till her death. In fact, the hatred and misery life of Miss Emily also symbolizes the sad ending of the fallen southern noble. Her sad life is a reflection of the lamentable age and a sign of the whole south of America.

Based on the framework of stylistics analysis, this thesis tries to analyze the textual features of A Rose for Emily by using qualitative analysis. It is aimed at revealing and investigating some of the typical stylistic features of the novel, and to make readers better understand and appreciate it.

The analysis of the thesis is made in three steps, that is, linguistic description, interpretation and evaluation from lexical, syntactical, textual and rhetorical aspects. Lexically, nouns, verbs and adjectives are studied. The syntactical level covers the analysis on the short simple sentences and long complex sentences. On the textual level, textual cohesion and textual coherence are explored. Rhetorically, metaphor and symbolism are briefly discussed. The present study finds out that simple but specific words are preferred by the writer not only for they can bring vivid pictures to readers, but also for they can create certain “Gothic” style circumstances. This would help readers form a suffocating and mysterious sense in their reading. Faulkner’s preference for the words rich in images is one of his most striking stylistic features, and can make readers much more absorbed by the novel.  

Keywords: A Rose for Emily, textual features, stylistic analysis

Contents

摘 要

Abstract

Acknowledgements

Chapter One  Introduction 1

1.1 Background of the study 1

1.2 Objectives of the study 1

1.3 Methods of the study 2

1.4 Outline of the thesis 2

Chapter Two  Literature Review 3

2.1 Stylistics 3

2.1.1 Definition of stylistics 3

2.1.2 Levels of stylistic analysis 4

  2.2 The development of stylistic study abroad and in China 5

2.2.1 Study abroad 5

2.2.2 Study in China 5

2.3 Introduction of A Rose for Emily 6

Chapter Three  Analysis and Discussion 7

3.1 On the lexical level 7

3.1.1 Nouns 7

3.1.2 Verbs 8

3.1.3 Adjective 9

  3.2 On the synactical level 11

3.2.1 Short and simple sentence 11

3.2.2 Long and complex sentence 12

  3.3 On the lexical level. ....13

3.3.1 Cohesion 13

3.3.2 Coherence 14

  3.4 On the rhetorical level. ....14

3.4.1 Metaphor 15

3.4.2 Symbolism 15

Chapter Four  Conclusion 17

4.1 Major findings 17

4.3 Limitations 18

References 19