（英语语言文学专业论文）从《人性的污秽》看菲利普·罗斯的伦理思想.pdf

摘要 iv 摘要摘要 菲利普罗斯是最杰出的美国犹太作家之一。和他的其他作品一样，罗斯 创作于 2000 年的小说 人性的污秽 一经出版就引起了国内外学者的极大关注。 尽管许多文学批评家从身份、历史、种族等角度对其进行了分析，但这部小说 从头至尾都反映了菲利普罗斯对人与自我、人与他人和人与社会这三种伦理 关系的呈现和思考。因此，本文试图运用文学伦理学的批评方法，探讨罗斯对 这三种伦理关系的刻画，并寻找作家在该作品中所体现的伦理思想。 全文分为五章。 第一章简要介绍了菲利普罗斯以及人性的污秽这部作品，介绍了该 部作品的国内外研究现状以及本文的研究方法文学伦理学批评。 第二章探讨了菲利普罗斯在人性的污秽中在人与自我关系上求真的 伦理主张。本文认为，通过描述小说主人公认识和重塑自己的过程以及自我塑 造的失败，菲利普罗斯表达了他在人与自我关系上求真的伦理思想。这里的 真指的是人应该做真实的自己，不应为自己戴上假面具。 第三章主要探讨菲利普罗斯在人与他人关系上求善的伦理主张。在人 性的污秽中，人与人之间的关系表现为人与人之间的相互迫害和中伤，罗斯 谴责了藏于社会和人性中的污秽或恶，在他看来，正是这些污秽导致了人与人 之间的相互迫害和中伤，并且借谴责这些污秽或恶表达了他在人与他人关系上 对真诚、平等、客观公正、无私、宽容和博爱这些不同形式的善的推崇。 第四章探讨了菲利普罗斯在人与社会关系上求和谐的伦理主张。在人 性的污秽中，人与社会的关系表现为人与社会的矛盾冲突。小说的主人公想 要实现自我发展，无奈却受缚于美国社会。通过展现小说主人公的生存悲剧， 罗斯表达了他对和谐的人与社会关系的向往。社会为人的发展提供更好的条件， 与此同时，人充分发挥自己的才能并为社会的进步作出自己的贡献。 第五章为结论部分。该部分对全文进行总结并讨论了本文所做研究的现实 意义。罗斯关于这三种伦理关系的思考对读者在现实生活中处理这些关系具有 指导意义。 摘要 v 关键词关键词：菲利普罗斯； 人性的污秽 ；文学伦理学批评；真；善；和谐 abstract ii abstract philip roth is considered one of the most prominent american jewish writers. like his other works, the human stain, which is produced in 2000, has drawn great attention of both foreign and domestic scholars since the day it is born. although many literary critics have analyzed the human stain from the angles of identity, history and race etc, the thesis holds that this novel reflects philip roths concerns about human-self, human-other and human-society relationships. therefore, this thesis attempts to explore roths depiction of the three kinds of ethical relationships in the human stain, adopting the method of ethical literary criticism, trying to find out roths ethical ideas in this novel. this thesis is made up of five chapters. chapter one gives a brief introduction to philip roth and the human stain, the critical reviews of this novel and ethical literary criticismthe research method of this thesis. chapter two explores in detail philip roths ethical proposition of humans pursuit of trueness in terms of human-self relationship in the human stain. the thesis holds that by depicting the protagonists journey of knowing and remaking himself as well as the failure of such self-invention, roth conveys his ethical ideas of pursuing trueness in terms of human-self relationship. here trueness means that people should live with the true self and dont try to make a mask for self. chapter three focuses on philip roths ethical position of humans pursuit of good in terms of human-other relationship. in the human stain, roth describes the human-other relationship as the mutual persecution and slander among people and criticizes those stains or evils existing in american society and people which cause such kind of relationship. by criticizing these social and human stains or evils, he conveys his ethical idea of pursuing good in terms of human-other relationship. through the human stain, philip roth extols good in forms of sincerity, equality, objectiveness, unselfishness, tolerance and universal fraternity. abstract iii chapter four discusses philip roths ethical claim of humans pursuit of harmony in terms of human-society relationship. in the human stain, roth describes the human-society relationship as the conflict between human and society. the protagonist wants to realize the self-development but is bound by american society. by describing the protagonists existing tragedy, roth expresses his wish for a harmonious human-society relationship. society provides better conditions for humans development. meanwhile, human can fully display his ability and make contributions to social progress. chapter five is the conclusion. it summarizes the whole thesis and discusses the realistic meaning of the research. philip roths ethical concerns about these three kinds of ethical relationships have instructive significance when dealing with these relationships in our real lives. key words: philip roth; the human stain; ethical literary criticism; trueness; good; harmony 学位论文独创性声明 学位论文独创性声明 本人声明所呈交的学位论文是本人在导师指导下进行的研究工作及取得的 研究成果。据我所知，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过的研究成果，也不包含为获得 南昌大学 或其他教育 机构的学位或证书而使用过的材料。与我一同工作的同志对本研究所做的任何 贡献均已在论文中作了明确的说明并表示谢意。 学位论文作者签名（手写） ： 签字日期： 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解南昌大学有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，有权 保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和磁盘，允许论文被查阅和借 阅。本人授权南昌大学可以将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、汇编本学位论文。同时授 权中国科学技术信息研究所将本学位论文收录到中国学位论文全文数据库 ， 并通过网络向社会公众提供信息服务。 （保密的学位论文在解密后适用本授权书） 学位论文作者签名（手写） ： 导师签名（手写） ： 签字日期： 年 月 日 签字日期： 年 月 日 acknowledgements i acknowledgements my profound thanks go to many people who helped me in the writing of this thesis. special gratitude is due to my supervisor, professor yuan xuesheng, not only for his enlightening advices in the process of directing my thesis-writing, but also for his considerable care and assistance in my daily life. my gratitude also goes to professor liu tianlun, who gave me valuable advices and put forward stimulating challenges for me in terms of the breadth of topics discussed. i would also like to extend my thanks to professor liu wen, professor liao hongzhong, professor yao qian, professor huang hongling for their interesting and enlightening courses which have become the most memorable part of my study in school of foreign studies. in addition, i also want to express my gratitude to my classmates. discussions with them are very pleasant experiences for me. finally, i wish to thank all my family members for their unfailing support to me during the whole course of writing the present thesis. chapter i introduction 1 chapter i introduction 1.1 philip roth and the human stain with a large number of jewish immigrants pouring into america in the 19th century, american jewish literature which depicts the life of these jewish immigrants began to arise and become more and more important in american literature. especially after the second world war, many great jewish writers appear in the american literature circle. these jewish writers, with their splendid works, refresh the american literary world and draw much attention of readers and literary critics. by employing and sublimating jewish culture elements, they have not only explained the cultural adjustment and transition of jewish immigrants in america but also revealed the existent situation of the whole human being. thus, the works of these jewish writers imply the development trend of contemporary american literature in a way. among all these american jewish writers, philip roth, who is usually considered as the whiz kid in literature, is the youngest achiever. born march 19, 1933, newark, new jersey, philip roth is the second child of first-generation american parents, jews of galician descent. after graduated from newarks weequahic high school in 1950, roth went on to attend bucknell university and earn a degree in english. he then pursued graduate studies at the university of chicago, where he received an m.a. in english literature and worked briefly as an instructor in the universitys writing program. roth went on to teach creative writing at the university of iowa and princeton university. he continued his academic career at the university of pennsylvania, where he taught comparative literature before retiring from teaching in 1991. we can see that roth spends most of his lifetime in university. university experiences also provide materials for his novel writing. between the end of his studies and the publication of his first book in 1959, roth served two years in the united states army and then wrote short fiction and criticism chapter i introduction 2 for various magazines. generally speaking, roths novel writing can be divided into three periods. in the early period (1950s-1960s), roths writing is deeply influenced by flaubert and henry james. the characteristics of his works are shown in his sharp insight, exact words and exquisite style. his first book, goodbye, columbus (1959), a novella and five short stories, won the national book award in 1960, and afterward he published two novels, letting go and when she was good. however, it was not until the publication of his third novel, portnoys complaint, in 1969 that roth enjoyed widespread commercial and critical success. although this novel brought him fame, roth was criticized by the jewish community due to the audacious description of sex in the novel. during the 1970s roth experimented in various modes, from the political satire our gang to the kafkaesque the breast. by the end of the decade roth has created his nathan zuckerman alter ego. in a series of highly self-referential novels and novellas that followed between 1979-1986, zuckerman appeared as either the main character or as an interlocutor. during the 1990s, roth has strengthened his status as an important contemporary novelist in america and embraced a new peak of his literary creation. patrimonies, operation shylock, sabbaths theater, american pastoral, i married a communist, and the human stain etc are all works of this period. moreover, american pastoral won the pulitzer prize. even though he is at a high age, roth is consistent with novel writing in his seventies. in 2004, he created the plot against america. from 2006 to 2008, roth finished three novels: everyman, exist ghost and indignation. roth once described american pastoral and the two following novels i married a communist and the human stain as a loosely connected “american trilogy”. all these novels deal with aspects of the postwar era against the backdrop of the nostalgically remembered jewish-american childhood of nathan zuckerman, in which the experience of life on the american home front during the second world war features prominently. this thesis is focused on the last novel of american trilogy: the human stain. this novel is created in 2000 and is set in the background of bill clintons impeachment in 1998. in the same year, the 71-year-old protagonist chapter i introduction 3 coleman silk, a former classics professor and faculty dean of athena college in new england, is accused of sexually exploiting an abused, illiterate woman half his age because he is having an affair with a 34-year-old cleaner of the college. two years ago, coleman resigned from the college because he was accused of making a racist remark by calling two absent students whom he had never seen “spook”. coleman got mad with the unreasonable charge. he became especially vexed when his wife iris was dead of stroke. he thought iris death was caused by his being charged with racism by the college. he found nathan zuckerman, a writer in the novel, who is also the narrator of the whole story, asking him to write a book about the “spook accident” to reveal the injustice he suffered. when zuckerman refused his requirement, coleman began to write himself and lived in wrath all the time until he met faunia farley, the young cleaning woman in the college. coleman and faunia fell in love with each other. however, their love affair brings coleman an anonymous letter from his successor, the faculty dean delphine roux, his childrens inhospitality and faunias ex-husband lesley farleys enmity. lesley is a vietnam war veteran and anti-semitist, who has got a mental disease called “post-traumatic stress disorder” and is a great threat to them. however, coleman and faunia continue their relationship. in the end, they are killed in an intentional car accident caused by lesley. this novel proves to be a success both in america and internationally. because of the book, roth won the w. h. smith award for best book of the year in the united kingdom and the prix medici for the best book of the year in france, and the second pen/faulkner award in 2001 in the united states. this novel is also adapted into a film of the same name in 2003 starring anthony hopkins and nicole kidman. 1.2 the critical reviews of philip roths the human stain roths works have always received great concerns not only from ordinary readers but also from literary critics. and since 1990s, roth studies have become very hot. derek parker royal said in 2005 that “roths work in the past fifteen years has also spawned what could be called a revitalization of roth studies within academia.”1 1 royal, d. p. introduction . in royal, d. p. (ed). philip roth: new perspectives on an american author. chapter i introduction 4 this is also the time when roth created some of his most important works, including his well-received american trilogy. as the last novel of american trilogy, the human stain draws attention of scholars both abroad and domestic. 1.2.1 the critical reviews abroad critics abroad have explored identity, history, race and betrayal, etc in the human stain. brett ashley kaplan studies the human stain from the perspective of race. he claims that “racial reconciliation is always thwarted by the toxic power of unreconciled personal secret”.2 he also thinks that the novel tells us “because we are still obsessed by reading race we can not overcome racism and anti-semitism in america”.3 in derek parker royals philip roth: new perspectives on an american author, the research on this novel focuses on the narrator nathan zuckerman, who is always considered as roths alter ego. besides, the effect of the complicated narrative structure is also the object of study. in up societys ass,cooper: rereading philip roth, mark shechner argues that this novel is hawthornes the scarlet letter and its protagonist coleman also embodies some “letters” like hester. in addition, the novel is often studied from the angle of academic novel, from the narrative method, from the style of the writer, and from the theme of race and class. timothy parrish finds in the novel that roth “makes identity an effect of the history that permeates ones choices”.4 debra shostak explores the self-betrayal that stems from an attempt to avert the betrayals of others in the novel. some scholars pay attention to philip roths unique style of “sheer playfulness and deadly seriousness”.5 in tragedy and farce in roths the human stain, elaine b. safer claims that roths shifts of perspective and mood from the ludicrous to the calamitous disorients readers and cause them to let down their guard, and they are drawn into the tragicomedy of the human stain. in impersonation and the diaspora jew, debra shostak thinks roths exploration of the westpoint: praeger publishers, 2005. p.2 2 kaplan, ashley brett. reading race and the conundrums of reconciliation in philip roths the human stain . in halio jay l. and ben siegel (ed). turning up the flame: philip roths later novels . rosemont publishing colemans passing from black as jewish; love, marriage and family. she thinks that by revealing the dark sides of contemporary american society, roth expresses his deep desire for a free, equal, fair society full of understanding and love. 1.3 research method 1.3.1 ethics and literature in june 2004, professor nie zhenzhao from central china normal university chapter i introduction 7 put forward ethical literary criticism as a new methodology in literary criticism. he proposed for the first time to analyze literary works with ethical methods. although ethical literary criticism is a new approach to literary studies, the discussion of the relationship between literature and ethics is not new. actually, there is a very close relationship between literature and ethics. first of all, as far as the object of study, ethics and literature have something in common. ethics is defined as the study of morality. this word “ethics” has its origin in greek, meaning custom, habit and character, etc. ethics makes morality phenomenon the subject of study, including moral ideology, moral principles and moral behaviors and so on, while literature is usually considered to be the imitation of real life. by using art techniques, literature transforms the realistic world into the fictitious and artistic world. since morality phenomenon is an important part in human society, it necessarily involves itself in literature. by depicting the moral conflicts in the imaginative world, literature displays the moral phenomenon in the real human society. so the transformation of real society into a fictitious society connects literature with ethics, because the fictitious world created by literature contains almost all the aspects of ethics. as early as in the ancient greece, greek mythology has involved the moral phenomenon at that time in its literary depiction. later, shakespeares plays, dickens novels, hardys and many other writers works have also explored the moral issues in their times, which make their works transcend time and space and become the literary classics. secondly, the close relationship between literature and ethics is reflected in the moral educational function of literature, which is once regarded as the purpose of literature. literature also exerts great influence on peoples minds and the whole society. take china as example, chinese culture attaches much importance to ethics and morality, and chinese literature has paid much attention to its moral educational function. “zhou dunyi (1017-1070) of song dynasty considers that the the text is the container of tao, and zhu xi (1130-1200) of the same dynasty believes that tao is the essence of text, and text is the minor details of tao. “tao” here means morality, justice and ethics.”6 6 tan shuangmei, a call for love in revealing the human stain: on the ethical ideas in the human stain, chapter i introduction 8 in the west, people have also seen literatures powerful moral educational function even from the a