“迷惘的一代”作家自我流放原因再探

Reasons for the Self-Expatriation of the ″Lost Generation″ Writers: A Reconsideration

2 0世纪 2 0年代被称为“迷惘的一代”的一批美国作家纷纷自我流放到法国巴黎 ,形成一个奇特的文化现象。批评界往往将流放的动机合理化、逻辑化 ,使这一现象成为可以做出精确阐释的文化表态。笔者将流行的解释归为“战争幻灭说”和“文化朝圣说” ,并对此提出质疑 ,认为还有许多其他原因 ,如法郎贬值、格林尼治村的瓦解和新消费道德的形成等 ,共同造成了这一文化现象 ,其真实理由也许比一般认可的更复杂 ,但也更实际。

As a unique cultural phenomenon, the self-expatriation of a group of young writers, generally termed as the ″Lost Generation″, has attracted a lot of critical attention. However, their motives are often rationalized or even ennobled as a clearly definable cultural expression. The paper raises doubts about such suppositions summarized in the paper as the ″war disillusionment″ and the ″cultural pilgrimage″ and argues that other factors, more important ones, such as the devaluation of the francs, the disintegration of Greenwich Village, the artists colony and the new consumer morality, etc. helped give rise to this cultural phenomenon, and the true causes of the self-expatriation were more complicated and more practical than have so far been commonly recognized.