岸与圈:一个天文学的隐喻——沈从文的《边城》与安德森的《林中之死》

Circling Imagery Motifs in Traditional Western Cosmology: The Border Town and Death in the Woods

圆形意象母题是中西文学共同关注的话题,成为历朝历代文学家描写的焦点。西方尤其以传统宇宙论的天文学隐喻解构人们关于永恒、完美、理想的彼岸世界等意义概念,东方则以类似的思维方式触及这一美学话题。《边城》和《林中之死》几乎同时发表,写于不同的国度。但从二者描写的主题意象来看,都是对西方传统天文学的一个隐喻。前者以“岸”为前景,后者以“圈”为象征,所说的却都是圆形运动。它象征着人类行程的运动模式,表现出的是人的精神追求模式。

Circling imagery motifs have been the theme of literature shared by both occidental and oriental literatures, and have been investigated by literary critics generation after generation. The occidental perspective takes the traditional cosmology as a metaphor to deconstruct the significance conceptions of eternity, perfectness and the ideal Faramita while the oriental way of thinking takes its similar convention. The Border Town and Death in the Woods were written in different countries but almost at the same time. Both of the works are metaphors reflecting the traditional occidental cosmology. The former assumes the bank as its foreground, while the latter the circle as a symbol. Both narrate and depict the circling motion to symbolize the progress of mankind, which is also the mode of man’s spiritual pursuit.