《谢莉》:“进步”话语的解构和“通天塔”意象的建构

Shirley: The Narrative of ″Progress″ Deconstructed and the Image of the Babel Constructed

对《谢莉》的批评大致可以分成两大类:一是从艺术角度;二是从意识形态角度。然而,如果我们从对“进步”话语的解构这一角度切入,就会发现《谢莉》是一部十分优秀的小说。小说中“巴比伦通天塔”及其相关意象强烈地暗示了夏洛蒂·勃朗特笔下的时代,是一个“进步”话语甚嚣尘上的时代。勃朗特把我们推入了一个光怪陆离的语言世界,无非是要我们和她一起去分辨良莠,区别真伪。我们必须小心翼翼地把叙述者的声音从那些嘈杂混乱的声音中剥离出来。许多对勃朗特的批评,其实都是把叙述者的声音跟叙述者戏仿的“进步”话语相混淆所造成的。

The censure on Shirley generally falls into two categories： the criticism from the angle of conventional art, and the attack from the ideological point of view. A close-up look at the way it deconstructs the narrative of ＂progress＂, however, reveals that Shirley is nonetheless a superb novel. ＂The Tower of Babel＂ and the correlated images bring into sharp relief the characteristics of the discourse in the age under the pen of Charlotte Bronte. In other words, Shirley unfolds an era in which the narrative of ＂progress＂, consisting of confused noise and uproar, runs rife and rampant. By nudging us into a dazzling linguistic world, Bronte has managed to send us a signal which is meant to be an invitation to join her in the process of telling good from bad and distinguishing truth from falsity. An adequate analysis of the text presupposes that we cautiously differentiate and detach the ironic voice of the narrator from the tumultuous voices reflecting or centering around the notion of ＂progress＂. A great deal of criticism of Bronte, in fact, results from the mistake of confusing the narrator＇ s voice with the narrative of ＂progress＂ which the narrator has parodied and critiqued.