清教预表法与美国文学中的救赎主题--以《白鲸》、“海上扁舟”和《老人与海》为例

Puritan Typology and Redemption in Moby-Dick,"The Open Boat" and The Old Man and the Sea

本文以救赎在三部美国文学作品《白鲸》、"海上扁舟"和《老人与海》中的再现为基础,指出它们与《圣经》中三种救赎主题的相似性,并进而认为美利坚清教预表法是解释救赎主题反复再现的关键所在。预表法脱胎于基督教圣经阐释学,并为新英格兰清教徒所利用,一直延续至今。它将《圣经》中的主题或意象嵌入到美国文学、文化乃至政治之中。它是世俗与神圣、此地与彼岸、尘世与天国相联系的纽带,将美国文明的现世性与基督教教义中的普世性和永恒性融合在一起。

This paper, based on the representations of redemption in three works of American literature, namely, Moby Dick, ＂The Open Boat＂ and The Old Man and the Sea, expounds their similarities with those themes of redemption presented in the Bible. Furthermore, the paper argues that the key to the recurrent theme lies in the American typology, which is conceived in biblical hermeneutics and adopted by New England Puritans. By embedding the biblical themes and images into American literature, culture, and even politics, it serves as a link between the secular and the holy, here and now and there and then, as well as the sublunary world and the heavenly kingdom, combining the secularization of American civilization with the university and eternity of Christianity.