约翰生在《谢思顿传》中的选材艺术

Samuel Johnson's Art of Choosing Biographical Materials in Life of Shenstone

英国18世纪文坛领袖萨缪尔·约翰生有着多方面的才能,但他最大的兴趣和贡献还是在传记方面。他写了52位诗人的传记,《谢思顿传》是其中之一。他通过多种渠道收集有关传主的材料:首先,在酒馆、旅店和俱乐部与朋友聊天的时候,得到一些口传资料;其次,他也参观谢思顿的篱索思花园,得到一些实物资料;最后,就是去图书馆查阅有关传主的文献资料,这也是约翰生的主要传材来源。约翰生以自己独到的眼光对这些传材进行整理、鉴别和取舍,并形成自己独立的评价。

Samuel Johnson,the leading figure in the 18^(th)-century English literary world,had many talents,while his greatest interest and contribution was in biography.He wrote 52 lives of English poets,one of which was Life of Shenstone.He collected materials about the biographee through a variety of channels:firstly,he got some oral information while chatting with friends in pubs,inns and clubs;secondly,he visited Shenstone's garden the Leasowes and got some physical materials.More importantly,He went to the library and consulted documents related to Shenstone,which was Johnson's main source of materials.Johnson organized,identifed and made a selection of these materials with his own unique vision,and formed his own independent evaluation.