（英语语言文学专业论文）论约翰·斯坦贝克《胜负未决》中的集群观.pdf

descriptive chinese abstract i 摘摘 要要 约翰斯坦贝克是二十世纪美国文学史上的一位重要作家。近三十年来，对其作品 的重新解读引起学术界广泛的争论和回应，尤其在欧美学界呈现出前所未有的繁荣景 象，有关其作品的研究主要是从女性主义、原型批评以及新历史主义来研究。但是国内 学界对斯坦贝克的研究多集中于愤怒的葡萄与人鼠之间两部作品，且专著专文 屈指可数，国内斯坦贝克研究明显存在不足，尤其对于胜负未决这部作品，研究者 更是寥寥无几。 作为诺贝尔文学奖的得主，斯坦贝克的声誉主要是与其20世纪30年代出版的“工人 三部曲”联系在一起的。而1936年出版的胜负未决作为三部曲的开篇之作，成为斯 坦贝克文学创作由远离社会现实走向关注社会政治经济问题的转折点。 这部小说以斯坦 贝克所熟悉的加州北部农业山谷为背景，描写了苹果园季节工人的一次罢工斗争，这一 斗争由老党员麦克和新党员吉姆领导。但果园主使用种种手段破坏罢工斗争，麦克等人 识破果园主阴谋后，商量对策使罢工得以坚持下去。但在罢工中不少工人濒于饿死，吉 姆也被打死，麦克则用吉姆的尸体激励愤怒的工人继续斗争，罢工斗争处于胜负未决的 状态。作品完全通过对话形式展开，其中蕴含了斯坦贝克对集群的萌芽思想。 鉴于国内外的研究现状， 本文试图从斯坦贝克本人的意识形态与作品创作的关系探 讨斯坦贝克胜负未决中的集群观，从集群与个人的关系探讨其集群观的特点，并对 其集群观中有关知识分子和领导权问题进行分析， 探讨其集群观的局限性及局限性产生 的原因。文章第一章着重分析作品中所表现的集群对于个体的吸引力，探讨了斯坦贝克 集群观形成的社会语境，以及集群的吸引力所在。第二章分析了斯坦贝克集群观中个人 与集群的矛盾性，认为这一矛盾正是斯坦贝克政治态度的矛盾造成的。斯坦贝克的集群 观虽强调个人与集群的互动和互存关系， 但其中所体现的过于强大的集群力量导致了个 人的失语；而在集群无法帮助个体实现其目标时，个体纷纷离弃集群。第三章讨论和反 思斯坦贝克集群观的局限性，分析了斯坦贝克对于知识分子作用的困惑认识，指出其集 群观在关注到无产阶级和资产阶级两个集团之间的经济利益冲突时忽视了无产阶级文 化领导权的问题，这正是作品中所表现的罢工走向失败的直接原因。结论部分对全文进 行了总结，并点明了从作家意识形态与作品创作的关系审视斯坦贝克胜负未决中的 集群观的意义。 关键词：约翰斯坦贝克； 胜负未决 ；个体；集群；文化领导权关键词：约翰斯坦贝克； 胜负未决 ；个体；集群；文化领导权 english abstract ii abstract john steinbeck was a great writer in the twentieth-century american literature. in recent thirty years, the trend of re-reading steinbecks writings triggers the heated echo and contention in the academic circle. in particular, steinbeck revival in the u.s. substantially stimulates steinbeck studies to be more prosperous. the theories foreign scholars resort to can be summarized as: feminism, archetypal criticism and new historicism. but domestic attention has been paid only to steinbecks of mice and men and the grapes of wrath. it is obvious that the domestic steinbeck study is immature, and few put their eye on steinbecks in dubious battle. steinbecks prestige as a nobel prize winner has been mainly associated with his “worker trilogy” published in the 1930s. actually the first of the trilogy, in dubious battle marks a turning point in the novelists literary career: it was the first time that steinbeck had faced the social realities, political issues, and economic problems to expose the dark side of capitalism and actively seeked the methods of delivering the society. this book takes a california orchard as background, describes a strike that is held by a crowd of striking apple-pickers in torgas valley, but the farm owners use various methods to interrupt the movement, including violence. the workers leaders, mac and jim, consult a plan for carrying on the strike after they have discerned the farm owners tricks and intrigues. however, some workers were dying because of starvation and the leader jim was shot and dead for his communist dream. finally, the story stops as mac displays jims body to the angry workers to arouse them to continue the struggle. the strike comes to a dubious point. the story is presented through the whole book in the style of conversations, but the bud of steinbecks phalanx theory comes into being. based on the already-existed studies on steinbeck, the thesis is to explore steinbecks phalanx theory in his in dubious battle from the books relation to steinbecks ideology, attempting to discuss the features of his phalanx theory from the relationship between individual and group, analyzing the role of the intellectual and leadership in his phalanx theory, illustrating the limitation of his phalanx theory and the causes of the limitation. chapter one mainly focuses on the phalanxs power to individuals, and the representation of this kind of power in the book after discussing the social context in which steinbecks theory was formed. chapter two analyzes the contradiction between phalanx and individual, and points out it results from steinbecks contradictory political attitudes. although steinbecks phalanx theory stresses the mutual relation and mutual dependence between individuals and english abstract iii the group, the overwhelming power of the group has led to the aphasia of self. and when the group fails to realize the aim for the individuals, the individuals may quit the group. chapter three discusses the limitation of the phalanx theory with relation to steinbecks own bewilderment with the role of the intellectual, suggesting that although steinbecks phalanx theory pays attention to the clash of economical profits between the proletariat group and the capitalist group, it ignores the cultural leadership the proletarian should obtain, which becomes the direct reason for the failure of strike in this book. in the conclusion part, the main idea of the thesis is summarized and the significance of studying steinbecks phalanx theory in in dubious battle from the perspective of the relation between writers ideology and the writing is enhanced. key words: john steinbeck; in dubious battle; individual; phalanx; cultural leadership 湘湘 潭潭 大大 学学 学位论文原创性声明学位论文原创性声明 本人郑重声明：所呈交的论文是本人在导师的指导下独立进行研究所取得的研 究成果。除了文中特别加以标注引用的内容外，本论文不包含任何其它个人或集 体已经发表或撰写的成果作品。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均已 在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律后果由本人承担。 作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，同意学校保留 并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版，允许论文被查阅和借阅。 本人授权湘潭大学可以将本学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行检 索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存和汇编本学位论文。 涉密论文按学校规定处理。 作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日 导师签名： 日期： 年 月 日 introduction 1 introduction john steinbeck (1902-1908), an american novelist and short story writer, is considered to be one of the most important novelists in the twentieth-century american literature. as the third of four children and the only son of john ernst steinbeck and oliver hamilton steinbeck, he was born in saunas, california, on february 27, 1902. he attended stanford university intermittently between 1919 and 1925. steinbeck did not graduate from standford, but instead chose to support himself through manual labor while writing. he worked as an assistant chemist and a road-building worker and was once employed on ranches, which enabled him to be familiar with the land and the laborers there. these experiences among the working classes in california provided him firsthand observation of the attitudes, manners and language of the working men, and consequently lent authenticity to his depiction of the lives of the laborers who were the central characters in his most important novels. it is clear that environment, either the accident of his birth and growth in the saunas valley of california or his own selection of various laboring jobs, figures largely in the source material of steinbecks writings. in an age when so many americans turned away from their native country as a source of inspiration, steinbeck was an important exception. a commitment to his native california, especially to its rural poor, shines through his works, especially through his “worker trilogy” (also known as labor trilogy)in dubious battle; of mice and men; the grapes of wrath. steinbeck is among the most prolific and most accomplished western american novelist. as a prolific and versatile writer, steinbeck produced more than thirty volumes of fiction and nonfiction during his lifetime. his works include novels, short stories, plays, and journals, which have appealed to a broad audience from different cultural backgrounds. critics have tended to divide steinbecks literary career into four phases. the first phase (1929-1935), which marked his apprenticeship, witnessed the publication of four novels: cup of gold (1929), the pastures of heaven (1932), to a god unknown (1933) and tortilla flat (1935). in these early books, steinbeck seems to be a writer of “adventure romances, symbolic realist, a mythic and perhaps mystic fabulist, or a devil-may-care humorist” (mcelrath x). even the commercial success of tortilla flat did not bring much favorable criticism. steinbecks second phase (1936-1939) started with the publication of in dubious battle. this was followed in rapid succession by of mice and men (1937), and the grapes of wrath (1939). all of them were immensely popular and closely associated with the social and political environment of 1930s america. the three novels, despite their differences and unevenness in introduction 2 prose style, are generally considered as a trilogy because of the same subject matter as well as the same thematic consideration. owing to the success of these books, steinbeck was once considered as “the young american novelist whose future seems most exciting and most assured” (millett 50). this trilogy also helped the writer win such a label as the spokesman of the 1930s. on the whole, 1930s was a period when steinbeck became mature in art, and produced his representative works. from in dubious battle to the grapes of wrath, steinbeck wrote the history of 1930s america in his specific way, interpreting his contemporaries dreams and pursuit, reflecting on the sharp contrast between illusion and reality. it is evident in retrospect that he was most successful in his creativity during the depression of the 1930s. after the great depression in the third phase (1940-1952), steinbecks career demonstrated a gradual break from the fiction of the late 1930s. “his works were highly varied but less well-received. when the second world wax broke out in europe, he went to north africa and italy as a correspondent, out of which came several journalistic books”(benson, essays 111). eleven books were published in this period, including bombs away (1940), the moon is down (1940), cannery row (1945), womans home companion (1945), the pearl (1947), the wayward bus (1947), a russian journal (1948), the red pony (1949), burning bright (1950), viva zapata (1950) and east of eden (1952). the fourth and last phase (1953-1968) of his career was not so productive. only two important novels in this period, they are sweet thursday (1954) and the winter of our discontent (1961). at the time of his death steinbecks literary reputation in america was at its lowest ebb. he had produced no new work of fiction for seven years; his last full-length work, american and americans (1966), had not been widely reviewed, being mistakenly regarded as merely a glossy coffee table book. although steinbeck wrote many works, his most significant works were created in 1930s. these works are based on his visits to depression-era migrant laborers camps in californias central valley and the books brought him international recognition. critics give high appraisements about his “worker trilogy”: “his best novel came early in his career: in dubious battle; of mice and men; the grapes of wrath” (bloom 1). the trilogy “became his lifes most significant work; it became a body of prose fiction that critics, however divided on its value during the 1930s, would look back to with great frequency as steinbecks main contribution to twentieth-century literature” (mcelrath xiii). in dubious battle as the first of steinbecks three “workingclass” novels that came out in early 1936, fred t. marsh in a review in the new york times called it “the best labor and strike novel to come out of our contemporary economic and social unrest” (qtd. in mcelrath 60). while never as popular as introduction 3 the grapes of wrath, the book over the years since its publication has maintained a solid reputation as one of steinbecks best novels. it is now recognized as one of steinbecks most impressive achievements, some critics have rated it higher than his masterpiece the grapes of wrath. but most scholars pay little attention to his in dubious battle, only concentrating on his of mice and men and the grapes of wrath. in dubious battle takes a california orchard as background, describes a strike that hold by crowd of striking apple-pickers in torgas valley. the workers werent satisfied with their poor working conditions and pay cut. the growers associations attitude was that since most of the pickers had to have some kind of work at any price at all, in order to keep alive, much less move on to the next crop, they would have to take the cut. there was nothing they could do about it. that was what mac and jim were working to stop. at beginning, mac delivers the grandchild of london, a rank-and-file leader of the workers, intending to train the young man and also to impress the workers. later, when an old worker falls from the apple tree and is seriously injured, mac, jim, london, and dakin, another leader, organize a strike against the policies of the torgas fruit growers association. mac and jim convince a farmer, tom anderson, to let a group of about two thousand strikers lodge temporarily on his land. in the process of his learning, jim meets doc burton, a non-communist, who is in charge of sanitation and medical care in the camp. they lead the people to strike for their own, but the farm owners use various methods to interrupt the movement, including force. mac and other workers knew the farm owners tricks and consult a plan that they can carry on their strike. representatives of the growers association quickly challenge mac, london and the strikers in an angry confrontation. angry and hate become intensified on both sides. the vigilantes burn down andersons barn, and the workers destroy a growers home. some workers were dying because of starvation. jim was shot and dead for his communist dream. finally, the story stops as mac displays jims body to the angry workers to arouse them to continue the struggle. the strike comes to a dubious point, the battle was continue and dubious. actually all of steinbecks fiction and much of his nonfiction have received direct or indirect treatment in a variety of studies embodying an immense range of topics, approaches, and critical perspectives. “scholars,” christopher s. busch writes, “have investigated steinbecks agrarian and non-teleological visions; his portrayal of californias valleys, mountains, hills, and sea; his characterization of women and hispanic figures; his relationship to jungian, freudian, and field theory of psychology; and his perennial appeal to classroom teachersjust to name a few approaches” (qtd. in hayashi, abstracts 133). generally speaking, criticism on steinbeck from the 1930s to the 1990s follows three major trends. introduction 4 some critics pay much attention to the biographic study, e.g. lewis gannetts “john steinbeck: personal and bibliographical notes” (1939), tedlock and wickers “john steinbeck: a literary biography” (1957), thomas kiernans “the intricate music: a biography of john steinbeck” (1979) and parinis john steinbeck: a biography (1994). others focus on steinbecks political and social themes, such as louis owens “the grapes of wrath: trouble in the promised land” (1989) and rajni chades “social realism in the novels of john steinbeck” (1990). both authors think highly of steinbecks “worker trilogy” and regard them as the reflection of the ideological and social changes in american society in the 1930s. the third trend is a fresher critical force which emphasizes steinbecks biological and non-teleological thinking, and the religious connotation of his works, trying to uncover the hidden treasures in steinbecks literary works. this trend is represented by richard astros “john steinbeck and edward f. ricketts: the shaping of a novelist” (1973), robert waynes “john steinbecks use of nonteleological thinking in his mexican-american characters” (1985), jeffrey michaels “john steinbecks use of biblical imagery in the grapes of wrath: american dreams and realities examined” (1989) and warren frenchs john steinbecks fiction revisited (1994). these critics acclaim steinbecks scientific and philosophical ideas and suggest revaluating the value of his works. on the whole, steinbeck studies is a complex and fascinating area. in recent years, scholars have begun to approach steinbecks work from the perspectives of some contemporary critical theories, such as feminism, symbolism, multiculturalism, and new historicism. these are gong yubos “indestructible womenan analysis of the two female characters in the grapes of wrath”, xiang hualis “on feminism thought in the grapes of wrath” and liu weis “narration by others, but noose for women”; steinbecks works has just begun to be reevaluated in the light of these approaches, even though its surface simplicity and principled avoidance of irony make it difficult to appropriate to any critical program. in dubious battle is one of the john steinbecks masterpieces. it is also the first of his books to be recognized by several perceptive critics. as is known, the 1930s was a period when steinbeck became mature in art and produced his representative work in dubious battle, of mice and man and the grapes of wrath. in these three novels, steinbeck wrote the history of 1930s america in his specific way, interpreting his contemporaries dreams and pursuit, reflecting on the sharp contrast between illusion and reality. as the first book of steinbecks worker trilogy, in dubious battle marks a turning point in the novelists literary career. in this novel, steinbeck betrayed his former attitude and focused on the social reality. it means that the literary creation of steinbeck has been far away from the social reality and introduction 5 developed to focus on the social political problems of modern times. it first refers to the social problem, economical problem and political problem of the great depression. in dubious battle signifies the process of steinbecks self-fashioning in the social and political circumstances of 1930s america. steinbecks coming over to the left-wing literature is clearly connected with its potentially subversive significance in relation both to authority and to the formation of subjectivity. the important of this novel is obvious. it achieves an effect that none of ste