互文性、信仰及其他——读大江健三郎《别了!我的书》

Intertextuality,Belief and Death:A Reading of Goodbye,Mybook!

互文性理论关注符号学共时性,往往有意忽略作品的社会与历史维度。如果互文性可以理解为不同时代和地域的作品、作者之间的对话,那么它就不应该脱离具体的社会语境,对话者的主体特点也应受到重视。大江健三郎的近作《别了!我的书》是作者与英国诗人艾略特的对话,也是作者有意创作的一部互文性小说,故事情节与主人公古义阅读艾略特的经历同时展开。本文强调古义阅读过程中的选择性,指出他因意识到自己的文化差异而故意回避《四个四重奏》中对基督教的暗示与肯定。论文认为古义思考死亡等问题时在探求信仰,但是他对自杀的态度带有浓烈日本文化色彩,这成了他皈依基督教的极大障碍。

Theories of intertextuality often focus on semiotic synchronism at the expense of the social and historical dimensions of literary texts. If intertextuality is interpreted as an on-going conversation between and among authors （texts） past and present, it should take into account concrete social contexts and the subjectivity of participant interlocutors. Intended to be an intertextual novel, Kenzaburo Oe＇ s Goodbye, My Book! is a sustained dialogue between the partially autobiographical hero Cogito and the English poet T. S. Eliot. The story develops together with Cogito＇ s reading of Eliot＇ s poetry. This essay explores intertextual aspects of the novel and tries to explain why Cogito skips over lines suggestive of intimations and confirmations of Eliot＇ s Christian belief. It is argued that these omissions are as important and telling as Cogito＇ s quotations of Eliot＇ s poems. Conscious of his own cultural difference and lack of religious belief, Cogito eventually has to acknowledge that the poems he loves cannot be totally his own. The essay concludes with a discussion of Cogito＇s affirmative attitude towards suicide, the obstacle to his conversion to Christianity.