（英语语言文学专业论文）鲁迪·威伯编史小说的创作主题与写作技巧研究.pdf

ma thesis ningbo university 鲁迪威伯编史小说的创作主题与写作技巧研究 摘摘 要要 鲁迪威伯是位勤奋而又多产的作家，至今已发表了 9 部小说、4 部短篇故事集、 3 部文学评论和许多其他作品。无论是小说、故事集还是文学评论，威伯的作品都表现 出编史的创作主题，那就是“边缘群体”在面对殖民压力、宗教偏见时所经历的迫害 历程和情感体验。这些主题又被作者的创作手法（对史料进行“再编”与“再现”） 统一起来，作者十分关注：作为“边缘群体”的人们如何在正史传统观念主导的社会 中生存。鉴于有关威伯的种种评论以及许多读者对他的迫切了解，笔者认为“威伯编 史小说的创作主题与写作技巧研究”能为更好地解读这位文坛新秀的作品提供更为崭 新的视角。 多年来，威伯因其丰富、杰出的文学创作获得过无数的荣誉和奖项。他的长篇小 说大熊的诱惑（1973）和发现陌生人（1994）曾获得加拿大最高文学奖 总督文学奖。他的新作天伦之爱（2001）是一部勾魂摄魄、引人入胜的门诺教徒 史诗。因而，笔者决定将此 3 部编史小说纳入本篇论文重点研究的范围。首先，本文 以发现陌生人为例分析了历史与虚构之间的关系，并强调了历史文本与小说文本 之间的差异和冲突所起到的瓦解正统历史观念的作用。再者，又以大熊的诱惑为 例，剖析了历史与虚构之间的演化，在这部小说中威伯不仅把故事情节安置在历史的 总框架之内，而且还查阅了大量的历史资料，以讲故事的方式成功地将一系列有案可 查的历史事件转化为一个个有血有肉、有感情、有主见的主人公，通过这种把“史 料”和“真情”一并交给读者的方法，读者便能更加主动、自由地体验书中人物的生 活情境和生存状态，恢复历史所遗忘的声音，从而实现编史小说颠覆历史的功能。在 这 2 部小说中，威伯用作家特有的想象力和敏感，巧妙地把与弱势群体有关的历史小 说化，在不失历史真实性的前提下，把历史资料中的平面人物和他个人的创作主题结 合在一起，使之在编史小说的时空环境里栩栩如生、呼之欲出。 其次，威伯在编史小说中所采用的写作技巧也让读者耳目一新。威伯别出心裁地 在天伦之爱中将第一人称自叙、第三人称评述与内聚焦、外聚焦的叙事角度和谐 ma thesis ningbo university 地结合在一起，确保读者能时常潜入主人公的意识和下意识，窥见其心理活动。此 外，威伯在发现陌生人中还运用了多重声音的叙事结构，这种结构类似于巴赫金 的“复调”，可以让不同的声音在同一平面中表现出来，以此来展现不同人物的生活 经历、意识活动以及各种各样的世界观和价值取向。这些创作手法无疑都表现了作者 威伯对传统历史、文化和现实的挑战，意在唤起对边缘民族、文化的同情和关注，并 对传统的历史构建进行解构。 综上所述，再加上本文对巴赫金的“复调理论”、“互文性”和加拿大文论家哈琼 “后现代历史元小说”的衡量和借鉴，我们可以明白威伯的编史小说揭示了许多曾经游离 于历史主流背后的故事和传奇，从而让我们听到了许多曾经排挤于所谓“正史”之外的边 缘声音，看到了历史真实的多面性，进一步激发了我们对“文学的虚构性”和“历史的真 实性”的重新审视，而且还为当代社会的人们审视过去的历史提供了一个崭新的视角。 关键词：编史小说，互文性，演化关系，叙述视角，复调关键词：编史小说，互文性，演化关系，叙述视角，复调 ma thesis ningbo university on the themes and writing techniques of rudy wiebes historiographic novels abstract rudy wiebe is a prolific and an industrious writer, who has published nine novels, four collections of short stories and other prose works that have won numerous awards and prizes for him. his temptations of big bear and a discovery of strangers have got governor generals literary awardsthe highest honor for novelists in canada. he writes about the mennonites and the local indigenes of canada, describing their living conditions and emotional experiences in their struggle against the religious persecution and colonial pressure. his works have enjoyed great popularity abroad, but little attention is given to them in china. that is the reason why i choose the present topic: “on the themes and writing techniques of rudy wiebes historiographic novels”. first, the thesis analyzes the relationship between history and fiction by discussing the intertextual links between historical texts and fictional ones, which are omnipresent in a discovery of strangers. it also explores the transform of history from the records of important events to stories of individual characters, as is manifested in his temptations of big bear. through his story making out of real historical facts, wiebe has succeeded in personifying historical events and transforming them into the destinies of many emotional and spiritual individuals. he attempts to enliven the hidden legends and awaken the forgotten voices, even subvert the conventional consciousness of history in this way. second, the writing technique wiebe has adopted in his novels is another focus of this thesis. he makes use of the shifting narrative points of view and inner focus to write about the individual destinies of his characters, which has made it possible for readers to relive their lives and re- experience their emotional crisis within a historical frame, as is the case in his sweeter than all the world. besides, wiebe has experimented a multiple-voice structure in his works such as a discovery of strangers, similar to what bakhtin termed as “polyphony”, to give vent to various voices, especially those of the neglected and the underprivileged in history. this structure puts different perspectives, perceptions and values on a same footing, which serves to unveil wiebes theme: challenge the authority of orthodox history, and arouse our attention to the unheard voices made silent by authoritative discourse. ma thesis ningbo university in conclusion, the study of wiebes novels will shed light on the contemporary canadian literary genre termed as historiographic novels. it will give us a new dimension in understanding the relationship between history and fiction, and a new consciousness with which history is recorded and interpreted. key words: historiography, intertextuality, transform, narrative points, polyphony 独独 创创 性性 声声 明明 本人郑重声明：所呈交的论文是我个人在导师指导下进行的研究工 作及取得的研究成果。尽我所知，除了文中特别加以标注和致谢的地方 外，论文中不包含其他人已经发表或撰写的研究成果，也不包含为获得 宁波大学或其他教育机构的学位或证书所使用过的材料。与我一同工作 的同志对本研究所做的任何贡献均已在论文中做了明确的说明并表示了 谢意。 签名：_ 日期：_ 关于论文使用授权的声明关于论文使用授权的声明 本人完全了解宁波大学有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，即：学校 有权保留送交论文的复印件，允许论文被查阅和借阅；学校可以公布论 文的全部或部分内容，可以采用影印、缩印或其他复制手段保存论文。 （保密的论文在解密后应遵循此规定）（保密的论文在解密后应遵循此规定） 签名：_ 导师签名：_ 日期：_ ma thesis ningbo university - 1 - 1 introduction 1.1 rudy wiebes life and experience rudy wiebe is well-known as a western canadian writer, and a settler writer too, who depicts the experiences and emotions of canadian indigenes and mennonites from a historical point of view. a historical novelist as some critics have labelled him, wiebe “sees every work of art arising directly out of the artists experience” and encourages “a great deal of investigations into his life, environments while he is writing (keith 1981: 40).” moreover, he does not see his historical novels as entirely bound to actual events in history, but as tempered by subjective elements, such as personal understandings, traits, inclinations of the writer, as he says, “as a writer, writing, when you are most profoundly yourself you are no longer yourself (hawthorn 1992:74).” his works testify to a background of historical and biographical facts without being autobiographical, which is unique and unparalleled in canadian literary scene. therefore, we are justified in looking into his personal life in order to see how he has digested various influences and given his works complex and vigorous features of their own. wiebes parents went to canada from the former u.s.s.r in 1930 with their five children, settling in an isolated mennonite community in the remote northern saskatchewan. they were part of the emigration of mennonites, travelling gradually eastward through europe and asia to north and south america since the 16th century. mennonites have been pioneers, usually farmers, living in small communities and often working desolate land, existing “chiefly on a fare of bible and bread (keith 1981: 66).” wiebe was born on 4th october, 1934 in what later became his familys chicken barn. he lived in a secluded community of about 250 mennonites for thirteen years, as a member of the last generation of homesteaders to settle in the marginal canadian west. he grew up in “a world of heavy mans work (keith 1981: 20)”shared by all, and in a lonely and fierce landscape. he didnt speak english until six because mennonites customarily spoke low german at home and high german at churches. he also attended the speedwell mennonite brethren church, which offered to shape a religious belief for him. 1.2 a brief introduction to his works ma thesis ningbo university - 2 - wiebes early years were crucial to his development as a novelist since they provided him with an experience and an outlook distinctive from other canadian writers. he frequently recalls his early days with deep emotions and with a hint that they belonged geographically, psychologically and historically to a very marginal world. in it, life was more fundamental because it was strongly physical, attributing to the varieties of daily experience; but also strongly spiritual, attributing to the piety of mennonite belief and history. this combination of the intensely physical and spiritual elements can be detected in many of his historical works. it links him readily with the canadian indigenes too, whose lives are likewise both sensual and mystical, and whose history is also his focal point. the combination of those two elements influences his themes and even his writing style, which fuses the “immediate experience” of sensory details with the “absolute significance” of religious and historical truths. his novels unite facts with fiction, personal experiences with historical truths, all showing a sterner sort of investigation into the sufferings and history of those two groups of neglected people. that investigation has resulted in a series of works over the years with two distinctive themes: one representing the indigenes in canada, the other the mennonites. under the first theme, there are novels like the temptations of big bear（1973）, the scorched-wood people （1977）, and a discovery of strangers（1994）. the temptations of big bear is an epic of the canadian indigene chief, big bear, which brings alive his heroism and dignity in his fierce struggle for justice and integrity of the cree community and his own family. as the buffalo they depend on for food vanish, big bear leads his plains cree nation across the prairie, searching for a means of retaining the way of life they are quickly losinga life they have lived for thousands of years but now is threatened by the white invasion. the scorched-wood people portrays the fate of a heroic man, louis riel, a tragic and prophetic representative of his own people, repressed by political forces of the canadian new nation, and at end tried by a court of justice which he doesnt accept willingly. a discovery of strangers is based on a true record of british expedition headed by john franklin in 1821-22. it reveals, through their encounter with the local indigenes, the clashes between colonial mentalities and indigene ways of perception. under the second theme, we have such works as peace shall destroy many（1962）, the blue mountains of china（1970）, and sweeter than all the world（2001）. the first one, published in the early days of wiebes writing career and thus obvious as from a new hand in writing, attempts to offer a critical yet sympathetic panorama of the mennonite life in wapiti, exposing their vulnerableness as being biased and self-binding. a network of antagonisms, characteristic of the mennonites between ma thesis ningbo university - 3 - father and child, tradition and progress, the community and the outer world, flesh and spirit, is completely shown in this story. the blue mountains of china presents an epic of russian mennonites who, like the children of israel, suffer and wander in search of a land that would give them religious freedom. sweeter than all the world is an enthralling saga of the mennonite people and one mans emotional voyage into his own heritage, weaving the history of a suffering people into this arguably autobiographical novel. history, especially the one of disadvantaged and forgotten people, is what concerns wiebe in his composition. when he handed his manuscript of the temptations of big bear over to his publisher, he was asked if it was history or fiction. his answer was “100% history and 100% fiction”. he usually spends years researching on historical records, neglected papers, and comes up with a piece that is rich in historical implications but imaginative too in artistic creation. my thesis, therefore, will centre on the historicity of his works and the ways how he re-writes history from the perspective of a fiction writer. 1. 3 significance of the topic 1.3.1 arguments of this thesis the topic is worth exploring because wiebes works, though studied exhaustively in canada and elsewhere in the world, caught little attention in china. for the sake of convenience, i will focus on three of his novelsthe temptations of big bear, a discovery of strangers and sweeter than all the worldto develop my argument. first, i will look into the relationship between history and fiction in his works, into how the author exploits the textuality of both historical texts and fictional narratives. i will argue, based on texts from those three novels, how wiebe manipulates history to the bend of his imaginative mind and turns histories of the conceptual, of events, of conquers, of victories, and of the memorable, to histories of the sensual, of individuals, of sufferers and the conquered, of defeats, and of the forgotten. second, i will study wiebes ways of manipulation: how does he handle history to serve his creative purpose? on what theoretical basis can we justify his manipulation? how does he skip from the historical facts to fictional details? what is his stepping-stone? and eventually, what are those ways and means all for? my attention will be focused on the nature of “text”: how wiebe bridges over the gap between history and fiction using what the critics call the “intertexts”, and what effect he intends to achieve. ma thesis ningbo university - 4 - 1.3.2 organization of the topic this thesis consists of five parts. the first serves as a general introduction to rudy wiebe, his life and his works, along with the significance and arguments of this paper. the second part sums up the critical reviews he has received over the years, listing arguments and comments representative of the present canadian and chinese critical forum. based on that, i will put forward my points of view, different from the existent arguments. the third and fourth chapters lay great emphases on a detailed analysis of wiebes writing themes and style, supporting with illustrations and arguments my points. in the last chapter, apart from summarizing the themes and technique of wiebes novels, i will point out the difference of wiebes way in writing history from other historical novelists, explaining that his works have provided us with a new perspective to look at history and an awareness to care for those neglected in history. ma thesis ningbo university - 5 - 2 critical reviews on rudy wiebes novels 2.1 summary of the previous studies historical novelist is a somewhat inaccurate label on rudy wiebe, because his novels are anything but being historically authentic, though he professes to resort to historical records and write with the faithfulness of a historian. linda hutcheon has noticed this disparity in his writing. she uses a term “historiographic metafiction or historiography” to call his fiction. in this kind of novels, according to her, writing is not exclusively historically confined, but poetically constructed. “to write history (historical fiction) is (equally) to narrate, to represent by means of selection and interpretation (hutcheon 1988: 66).” but selection and interpretation cannot be free from the subjectivity of the author, for historians as well as novelists write with “a questioning stance through their common use of conventions of narrative, of reference, of the inscribing of subjectivity, of their identity as textuality, and even of their implication in ideology (hutcheon 1988: 286).” she illustrates that by her analysis of wiebes the temptations of big bear: “the fixed permanence and arid factuality of written treaties and of newspapers (not to mention of the aptly named scriptures) of the white world are pitted against the oral, unrecorded, and thus undefendable discourse of the indigene world (hutcheon 1990: 70).” it is this latter world that provides the author with full scope for his imagination, and a starting point of his questioning as to the authenticity of the accepted history, represented by those historical documents. what wiebe does is to set this imaginary world of the indigenes against the recorded history of the whites, and this setting (fragmenting and arranging) shows his “ideological manipulation (hutcheon 1988: 72).” the idea of “historiographic fiction” is reiterated by herb wyile in his journal historiographic fictions (1980). the volume is the most recent study of that literary genre, and wyile is to be commended for bringing the discussion up-to-date by commenting not only on classics such as rudy wiebes the temptations of big bear, but also on new developments in recent works by writers such as margaret sweatman. wyile modestly claims in the preface that he does not aim at “a comprehensive classification of english-canadian novels of the late twentieth century”, but rather wants “to suggest some significant developments, shared interests, and recurrent strategies.” as a consequence of the structure of wyiles approachfocusing on historical facts, textual strategies and the “commodification” of the pastseveral of wiebes ma thesis ningbo university - 6 - novels are discussed in more or less detail (2002). in one of his articles “history, theory, and the contemporary canadian historiographic fictions (2002)”, wyile shows that the fictional rather than imitative character of historiographic novel has certainly given novelists the elbowroom to develop their own abilities. as examples, he points out the revisionist tendency to tell “the stories of those left out of traditional history”, whether it be native indigenes in wiebes historiographic novels or the working class in books such as ondaatjes in the skin of a lion. this kind of revisionist tendency is actually the fragmenting and rearranging of the recorded history. in that essay, wyile studies important figures or events on which historiographic novels focus, in canada as in every settler-invader colony, including the confrontation of europeans and the aboriginal population as it is, for example, described in wiebes a discovery of strangers and the temptations of big bear. in his critical essay “historiography: writing about history (1996)”, jurgen pieters attempts to define briefly what is historiography: rewriting of history. he finds its supr