美国民族特性的文学想象与重建

Literary Imagination and Reconstruction of American National Identity

美国文学具有建构民族特性和国家形象的传统,而“美国信念”则是美国特性的核心因素。早期文学创作把基督教观念引入民族特性的建构之中,使美国民族特性中的新教伦理和启蒙价值观念得到传承。许多美国经典作家如惠特曼等人在作品中表达了具有强烈个人主义倾向的开拓进取精神,为塑造美国形象和美国特性画上了浓重的一笔。但是,美国当代文学对国家形象的塑造出现了颠覆传统的倾向,而世纪末文化保守思潮的兴起使一些作家开始反思民族的传统特性,文学作品中美国形象的塑造与美国特性重建再次联系在一起。在当代美国民族认同面临多元文化主义挑战之际,一些美国当代作家通过文学创作在反思和重建美国民族特性上发挥了重要作用。

There is a long tradition of constructing national identity and images in the history of American literature with ＂American Creed＂ as the core of American character. Early American lit- erature introduces Christian values into the shaping of national identity and passes on Protestant ethics and Enlightenment values. Many writers, such as W. Whitman, crystallize individualism and pioneering spirit in their works, contributing tremendously to the construction of American identity and images. However, contemporary literature demonstrates the rise of cultural rebellion that overthrows the traditional pattern of identity construction, while the emergence of cultural conservatism in the late 1990s harbingers the literary reconfirmation of traditional values in fusing construction of national identity with representation of American images. The current challenges to the national identification posed by muhi-cuhuralism prompt contemporary writers to play an important role in rethinking and reconstructing national identity through their creative writings.