（英语语言文学专业论文）《杀死一只知更鸟》中的哥特式特征.pdf

7 摘摘 要要 美国当代女作家哈珀李以她二十世纪六十年代出版的小说杀死一只知更鸟而 著称。她的长篇小说杀死一只知更鸟自发表以来，一直受到读者的欢迎和喜爱。在 这本小说中，哈珀李通过叙述小主人公司各特从天真到成熟的一段成长历程，围绕主 题事件即黑人汤姆的审判案件，展现了当时的社会背景，抨击了社会的阴暗面，诸如： 社会等级，种族歧视以及人性的罪恶面，但同时让读者对人性的善良，正义坚定信心。 本文主要就杀死一只知更鸟的哥特式手法进行分析。在杀死一只知更鸟中， 哈珀李将哥特式特色应用于整部小说，更彰显其艺术魅力。哥特式小说的故事多发生 于过去，背景多为废墟，荒野及古堡，在神秘，阴森，恐怖，充满悬念的气氛笼罩下， 上演着充满暴力，复仇，乱伦，鬼怪出没以及其它超自然现象的故事。作为一种重要的 写作手法，美国许多不同流派的作家都大量的使用了哥特手法进行文学创作，尤其是在 美国的南方文学中，哥特手法倍受南方作家的青睐，并得到了继承和进一步的发展，其 中的领军人物不乏大家，例如，福克纳，麦卡勒，奥康纳以及莫里森等等。哥特式小说 对美国文学产生既深刻又广泛的影响，成为众多美国作家青睐和采用的创作手法。 在小说杀死一只知更鸟中，哈珀李成功的将哥特手法渗透到作品创作中，彰 显作品与众不同的艺术魅力，展现了作者高超的创作技巧。在分析了哈珀李的杀死 一只知更鸟的哥特式写作特征方面，本文主要是从哥特式母题，哥特式场景描写，哥 特式情节以及哥特式人物塑造四方面出发来展示作者如何娴熟的运用哥特手法进行人 物刻画，烘托气氛，深化主题。作者不仅借助哥特式恐怖来展现由于种族主义和社会等 级所带来的可怕影响和后果， 而且通过哥特式手法将人性的善与恶冲突淋漓尽致的表现 出来。 本文从母题，场景，人物以及情节方面分析杀死一只知更鸟中神秘，暴力，超 自然等哥特式特征。论文主要分为四个部分：哥特式母题、哥特式情景、哥特式情节以 及哥特式人物。第一章从母题出发，分析杀死一只知更鸟中出现的诸如暴力，畸形 的爱以及囚禁等哥特式特有的母题。第二章旨在分析作品中的哥特式情景设置，主要从 荒唐的社会环境以及神秘的鬼魂出没的气氛两个方面来展现小说情景的哥特式特征。 第 三章从情节入手，分析文本中的神秘的悬念，奇怪的预示以及超自然情节，从而将作品 的哥特式情节特色及魅力展现给读者，同时，也表现了作者颇具匠心的艺术创作风格。 8 第四章重在分析人物塑造方面的哥特式特色，其中包括文本中所涉及到的疯癫，怪异两 大哥特式特征，从而使读者更好的解读人物，领略小说的艺术魅力。 虽然杀死一只知更鸟自 1960 年出版以来就立即成为畅销书且受到广泛的赞誉 和读者的喜爱。1961 年，该书获得普利策小说奖；1999 年，该小说在由图书杂志发起 的一项调查中被评为“本世纪最佳小说” ；2007 年，哈珀李的文学成就被授予总统自 由奖章。但是文学界对这部小说的研究颇少，鉴于此,本文试图从美国文学中影响广泛 的哥特式风格特征角度出发解读杀死一只知更鸟 ，旨在让更多的读者领略作品的魅 力。 总而言之，哈珀李在杀死一只知更鸟中哥特式成分的运用，增强了作品的可 读性，赋予了作品特殊的艺术魅力，使之成为经久不衰的传世佳作。 关键词：哥特式母题 哥特式场景 哥特式情节 哥特式人物 5 abstract harper lee, the contemporary american writer, is noticeable for her great novel to kill a mockingbird which has been welcomed and loved by readers since its publication. this novel focuses on the trial of the black man tom though the eyes of the little girl scout who experiences innocence to mature in order to display the social reality and assail the social evils such as the social hierarchy, racial discrimination and the dark side of human nature, at the same time, the author convinces the reader that there is still good and justice in human being. the thesis analyzes the gothic feature in to kill a mockingbird. harper lee gives the novel a more artistic charm by adopting of gothic style in the whole novel. the gothic novel is characterized by its story which happens in the past, in which the background is mostly ruined, wild and deserted. the gothic story often takes place in a certain gloomy castle furnished with dungeons, subterranean passages, and sliding panels, in which the atmosphere is dark, mysterious, horrible and full of suspense. it puts more emphasis on the motifs, such as terrible violence, incest, haunted ghost and supernatural events. as an important way of writing, the technique of gothic literature has been widely used by many american writers belonging to different schools, especially the southern writers who incline to favor the gothic writing technique and has been inherited and further developed it, among whom are well-known writers, such as william faulkner, carson mccullers, oconnor, morrison and so on. harper lee adds the artist charm to her novel by integrating the gothic technique into her famous novel to kill a mockingbird. in this way her superb writing skills are highlighted. gothic novel produces incisive and wide-ranging influence on american literature, which is adopted by many american writers. in to kill a mockingbird, harper lee successfully infiltrates the gothic feature in the novel to highlight the unique art charm of the work, which displays the authors superb writing skills. in terms of the analysis of the gothic writing in harper lees to kill a mockingbird, this article is divided into four points, including the gothic-style motifs, gothic setting, gothic plot as well as gothic characters, demonstrates the perfecting of the characterizing, heightening of the atmosphere and deepening of the theme. the author not 6 only shows the terrible impact and consequences brought by through the gothic-style terror, but also fully manifests the conflict between good and evil of human nature through the gothic-style writing. in this paper, to kill a mockingbird is analyzed from its motif, setting, plot and character to show its gothic features such as mystery, violence, the supernatural, so on and so forth. the thesis contains four parts: the first chapter is named the gothic motifs; the second chapter is called the gothic setting; the third is gothic plot; the fourth is gothic characters. the focus of the first chapter is the analysis of the gothic motifs such as violence, disfigured love and imprisonment. the second chapter aims to analyze the gothic settings, mainly from two aspects: the absurdity of the social environment and the mysterious and haunted atmosphere. the third chapter analyzes the mysterious suspense, the grotesque foreboding and the supernatural episode in terms of the gothic plot in order to show the specialty of the plot and the ingenuity of the authors writing skills. the last chapter puts emphasis on the description of the gothic characters at two points: the insanity and the eccentricity to help the readers understand the characters deeply and makes the novel a charming one. while to kill a mockingbird has been a bestseller that won readers love since it was published in 1960, and the book received the pulitzer prize for fiction in 1961. in 1999, it was named the best novel of the century in an investigation launched by the library magazine. harper lee was awarded the presidential medal of freedom in 2007, but the study of the novel is relatively few, in view of this, the paper tries to analyze to kill a mockingbird from the wide range of influence on american literaturegothic feature to allow more readers to appreciate the charm of the novel. all in all, the use of gothic elements in harper lee to kill a mockingbird enhances the readability of the novel, giving their works a special artistic charm and making it handed down among the enduring masterpiece. key words: gothic motifs gothic setting gothic plot gothic characters 4 学位论文原创性声明 学位论文原创性声明 本人所提交的学位论文杀死一只知更鸟 中的哥特式特征 ，是在导师的指 导下，独立进行研究工作所取得的原创性成果。除文中已经注明引用的内容外，本论文 不包含任何其他个人或集体已经发表或撰写过的研究成果。 对本文的研究做出重要贡献 的个人和集体，均已在文中标明。 本声明的法律后果由本人承担。 论文作者（签名） ： 指导教师确认（签名） ： 年 月 日 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河北师范大学有权保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交学 位论文的复印件和磁盘，允许论文被查阅和借阅。本人授权河北师范大学可以将学位论 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、缩印或其它复制手段保 存、汇编学位论文。 （保密的学位论文在 年解密后适用本授权书） 论文作者（签名） ： 指导教师（签名） ： 年 月 日 年 月 日 1 introduction harper lee is an american writer, who earns her fame worldwide by writing the novel to kill a mockingbird, which is prized by the novelist and essayist truman capote: “someone rare has written this very fine novel, a writer with the liveliest sense of life and the warmest, most authentic humor. a touching bookso likeable.” 1 harper lee was born on april 28, 1962, in monroeville, alabama, whose father was a lawyer. one of lees childhood friends was the future novelist and essayist truman capote who lived with relatives next door to lees family. during her undergraduate studies at the university of alabama, lee wrote for several student publications, which built a solid foundation for her future writing. in the mid 1950s, she moved to new york city, where she completed and published to kill a mockingbird in the year 1960. to kill a mockingbird was an immediate bestseller and won great critical acclaim, including the pulitzer prize for literature in april 1961. she was awarded the presidential medal of freedom of the united states for her contribution to literature in 2007. to kill a mockingbird tells the growth of the little heroine both in physical and mental, in which the little girl learns a lot of lessons from what she has experienced. the major event involving the trial of the black young man who is actually innocent displays the main social problemracial prejudice in that age. the novel focuses on the story occurs in the small town maycomb that suffers the sever great depression. scout and jem are reared by their father, for their mother died when they were very young. during summer vacation they make acquaintance with dill who is in his aunts. the three children get together to have more exciting adventures. they venture to the mysterious house, in which lives an eccentric person boo radley who is actually a victim of his fathers indifference and autocratic. however, they are scared to death by the large shadow of boos brother and rushed home. late in the night, atticus is informed of the case in which the black young man tom is accused of raping mayella ewell. atticus promised to defend for tom. tom is sentenced to death although atticus shows toms innocence by the 2 self-evident testimony. after the trial ends, life returns to quietness, but ewell vows to retaliate for he feels he is fooled by atticus and judge. scout and jem are attacked by bob ewell on the late night of halloween. at the dangerous moment, they are saved by boo radley who becomes the real human being rather than a freak in their mind. gothic originally refers to an early germanic tribe. gothic architecture is the medieval type of architecture, which is famous for its special style, in which the high pointed vault, arch and the flying buttresses are used. the term the gothic novel is introduced by the subtitle of the castle of otranto: a gothic story, which indicates its setting in the middle ages. the gothic novel can be defined as this. the locale was often a gloomy castle furnished with dungeons, subterranean passages, and sliding panels. the typical story focused on the suffering imposed on an innocent heroine by a cruel and lustful villain, and made bountiful use of ghosts, mysterious disappearances, and other sensation and supernatural occurrences（which in a number of novels turned out to have natural explanation）. the principal aim of such novels was to evoke chilling terror by exploiting mystery and a variety of horrors. the term gothic has also been extended to a type of fiction which lacks the exotic setting of the earlier romances, but develops a brooding atmosphere of gloom and terror, represents events that are uncanny or macabre or melodramatically violent, and often deals with aberrant psychological states.2 one reason for the rise of the gothic novel in great britain is not only the love of art of the people in the middle ages, but also the love of the ancient legends, myths, folk songs, as well as the worship of shakespeares dramatic works characterized with mystery, supernatural, and romance. in addition, bible and the christian legends are also an important source for the gothic novels. the other reason for the rise of the gothic novel is the sentimental literature advocating a tendency to emotional as well as the graveyard school which favor darkness, death and terrorism. at the same time, the sublime aesthetics is linked to the development of the gothic novel. terror, danger, horror and pain are the psychological and aesthetic effects pursuit by the gothic novel. of course, the gothic novel gives the reader the aesthetic experience in which a joy mixed with horror rather than pure terror to educate people. in a history of american popular fiction, lushan huang divides the development of the gothic novel into two branches. “by 90s 18th century, gothic novel gradually has 3 evolved into two branches. one branch is the terror gothic novel, the other is the sentimental gothic novel” 3 the first branch is the terror gothic novel, which is characterized by mixed the traditional writing with the insane evil to achieve the mystery and horror effect, such as the monk by matthew lewis. the other branch is the sentimental gothic novel, which is characterized by a reservation of the castle scenes, but abandons the much too mysterious atmosphere and the extreme terror, so that the story comes to a logical explanation. for example, the mysteries of udolpho by mary radcliffe. these two branches have an impact on the development of american gothic novel. the artistic achievements of british gothic novels made a great contribution to the development of gothic fiction in the other countries, especially in america. among the gothic novelists, charles brown exerts significant influence on the later writers. he adopts the gothic techniques to create gloomy and mysterious atmosphere to describe the heros fear vividly in his masterpiece weiland. sally wood and isaac mitchell are the representatives among the sentimental gothic novelists, the former has written a series of well-known gothic novel based on france and spain as the background in the 18th century, and the latter is known for his gothic writing the asylum. american gothic fiction starts relatively late, because as an emerging country the united states does not have castles, monasteries and the hierarchical social organization. however, there are similarities between different cultures. the system of its own manor lays the cultural foundation for the emergence of gothic fiction in america, which leads to the rise of the american gothic fiction. manor system is the basic political system in south america. the manorial stable life style makes the south residents create a lot of myths and legends to enrich their own livesdescribing the early immigrants as knights and themselves as the descendents of the knights. the well-developed agriculture produces a great number of legends related to farming; meanwhile, the slaver owners compare the south to the fantastic ancient greece, which provides a source of literary creativity. puritanism is the most important influence in the american literature, which reflects in the works by many writers. in addition, the abstinence, the basic doctrine of the protestant, confines peoples minds. the opposed idea gradually arises. many american writers criticize it for its suppression of human nature and deny it from a moral point of view. the insanity, insect and disfigured love are the arms against it. the representatives of american terror gothic novelists are list as follows. charles brown is notice for his novel, wieland which describes the fear of the hero vividly by 4 creating the gloomy tone and mystery atmosphere. edgar allan poe is an important figure in the history of american literature. under the influence of the victorian ghost stories, he has made a big progress to change the superficial terror into the psychological horror. edger allan poe makes a great contribution to the gothic novel, which earns him a good reputation. just as bradford morrow and patrick mcgrath argued in their introduction to the new gothic he is the single most important figure in linking the eighteenth centurys elaborately fantastic dramas of persecution (its crumbing fungous castles and clammy vaults) to the twentieth centurys concern with the terror of the mind: hysteria, neurosis, paranoia, dementia, perversion. among the early sentimental gothic novelists, sally wood and isaac mitchell are the representatives. in the 19th century, under the influence of realistic literature, the sentimental gothic fiction tends to reveal the social reality by using the gothic art, which serves as a tool to convey the social phenomena and expresses the theme. taking some well-known masterpieces for example: the sound and the fury, light in august and absalom! absalom! by william faulkner; wise blood by flannery oconnor, the ballad of the sad caf and the heart is a lonely hunter by carson mccullers, native son and the outsider by richard wright. the southern american writers have developed the gothic fiction in the extended sense, from the novels of charles brockden brown and the terror tales of edgar allan poe to william faulkner and some of the fictions of truman capote. the nightmarish realm of uncanny terror, violence, and cruelty opened by the gothic novel continue to be explored by the latter novelists. gothic fiction is associated with the development of aesthetic concept sublimity. since the classic on the sublime written by longinus in the late 17th century, has been translated into english, many critics and writers have discussed and explored the origin of sublimity, who argue consistently that the grand, horrible things can cause a lofty beauty. this kind of view is further developed by the well-known british political commentator and critic, edmund burke in the 18th century. in his aesthetics book a philosophical inquiry into the origin of our ideas of the sublime and beautiful , he expresses his view in one section of the sublime in this book: “whatever is in any sort to excite the ideas of pain, and danger, that is to say, whatever is in any sort terrible, or is conversant about terrible objects, or operates in a manner analogous to terror, is a source of the sublime; that is, it is productive of the strongest emotion which the mind is capable of feeling.”4 5 harper lee has been influenced by the gothic tradition in south america in a certain degree. five years after she was born, the notorious trial-the scottsboro case occurred, in which the nine young black men were charged with raping two white women and became the victims of racial prejudice. with that age as the setting, harper lee catches the climate of the age and criticizes the racial discrimination in her work to kill a mockingbird. the book gives a vivid description of a panorama of america in the 1930s, which echoes the civil rights movement in the 1960s. after its publication the book was well-sold and became a big shot. to kill a mockingbird is regarded as the second book only next to the holy bible in being “most often cited as making a difference” in peoples lives. it is still a controversial question whether harper lees novel to kill a mockin