从存在主义视角看《一个干净明亮的地方》中的虚无主义_英语论文

An Interpretation of Nihilism in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” from the Viewpoint of Existentialism

摘要

短篇小说《一个干净明亮的地方》是海明威早期作品之一，它是海明威虚无主义创作的典范。但其实本作品同样适用于存在主义角度的批评方法。从存在主义角度出发，《一个干净明亮的地方》中的情节设置和人物塑造满足了存在先于本质、世界是荒诞的和自由选择的存在主义基本元素。小说中人们对存在的困惑，信仰的迷失，也是存在主义哲学观下的一个极其重要的问题：人类应如何面对生活中的精神危机，找到生存的勇气。本文从存在主义视角对《一个干净明亮的地方》中的虚无主义进行分析，重点解析了小说中不同人物的死亡意识，对于世界是荒诞的不同理解以及他们对于存在的态度，揭示了海明威在作品中所体现出的人道主义精神。

关键词：一个干净明亮的地方；海明威；虚无主义；存在主义

Abstract

The short story “A Clean and Well-lighted Place” is one of Hemingway’s early works. It is a classical story with nihilism. But it also applies to the critic methods of existentialism. From the perspective of existentialism, the arrangement of the plot and the characterization in “A Clean and Well-lighted Place” satisfy the three principles of existentialism---existence precedes essence, absurd world and freedom of choice. In “A Clean and Well-lighted Place” people is confused with the existence and the loss of faith, which is also an extremely important issue in existential philosophy: how to face the spiritual crisis in life and find the courage to survive. Through analyzing the main characters’ awareness of death, their understanding of the absurd world and their attitudes towards existence, this thesis is intended to disclose Hemingway’s humanism by interpreting nihilism in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” from the viewpoint of existentialism.

Keywords: a clean and well-lighted place; Hemingway；nihilism；existentialism

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Literature Review 2

3. A Brief Introduction to Existentialism and Nihilism 4

3.1 Existentialism 4

3.2Nihilism 5

4. An Interpretation of Nihilism in “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” from the Viewpoint of Existentialism 7

4.1 Awareness of death 7

4.2 Absurd world 8

4.3 Attitude towards existence 9

5.Conclusion 11

Works Cited 12