Abstract

In American popular culture, the cannibalism is never alien. Whether the practical cannibalism or the metaphorical descriptions of cannibalism, it has been a very normal subject in literary genres. In other words, the cannibal fiction, as a literary type, provides us with a different view to think about American culture. This thesis is going to take Thomas Harris, as well as his masterpieces, as an example to find out social problems of modern America. It will analyze the dual personality of the representative character—Hannibal Lecter to seek the relation between the particularity and the universality of Doctor Lecter. The present thesis analyzes the social problems in modern America via the Thomas Harris’s cannibal fictions. Apart from introduction and conclusion, this thesis contains three parts: Part one is meant to review the researches regarding cannibal fictions and social problems in the United States. Then, Part two is devoted to analysis of the conflict inside Hannibal Lecter, who is the typical hero of Thomas Harris’s fictions. It also sets out to come up with the similarities between Doctor Lecter and the whole Americans. Finally, Part three reveals three major social issues in the United States.

Key words: conflict; barbarism and civilization; cannibal fiction
 
摘要

在美国通俗文化中，食人情节的描述不足为奇。不论是真实的食人事件还是隐喻上的食人描述,都已经是类型文学中很常见的题材了。换句话说,食人文学,作为一种类型文学,提供了一个截然不同的视角去重新思考美国文化。本课题拟以当代食人文学代表作家——托马斯·哈里斯及其代表作品为例，通过分析其小说代表人物——汉尼拔·莱克特的双重人格——野蛮与文明，并从该人物的独特性格出发，寻找该特殊性之于美国社会中的普遍性，从而审视中当代美国社会文化及其存在的普遍问题。
本文拟以托马斯·哈里斯的食人文学为例分析当代美国社会存在的问题。本文除了引言与结论共分为三个部分：第一部分综述前人对食人小说系列的研究，以及对美国社会问题的研究；第二部分从小说代表主人公——汉尼拔·莱克特的矛盾性——野蛮与文明为出发点，分析托马斯·哈里斯食人小说中反应的社会问题；第三部分分析了汉尼拔作为社会的特别个体，反映出的普遍大众的共同问题，揭示当代美国存在的社会问题。

关键词：冲突；野蛮与文明；食人小说