《麦田里的守望者》的仪式视角

"Seperation-Liminality-Aggregation":A Ritual Perspective into The Catcher in the Rye

"过渡礼仪"是指标志着个体"从一种社会地位转向另一种社会地位时所举行的礼仪",如出生、成年、结婚和死亡等。它包括三个阶段:分离阶段、阈限(过渡或边缘)阶段和聚合阶段。本文认为,《麦田里的守望者》正是以文学的形式对这一仪式习俗进行了记载。其中,主人公霍尔顿离家辍学相当于仪式的"分离"阶段,而他在纽约街头的游荡则视为他必须经历的一个"阈限",最后在妹妹菲苾的帮助下,霍尔顿放弃了"守望者"的梦想,重新与家庭和社会相"聚合"。因此,挖掘和再现小说中的这一仪式习俗便成了本文的首要目的;其次,运用"过渡礼仪"的分析模式,对霍尔顿的成长进行分阶段研究,说明霍尔顿走向成熟并不是评论家的一厢情愿,而是"仪式"使然,希望对该小说被划为"成长小说研究"之列有所裨益;最后,通过对"过渡礼仪"的介绍,以期引起文学界对"过渡礼仪"中"阈限"理论的关注。

The term rites de passage was first used by Arnold van Gennep in his book of that name. It refers to a range of rituals which mark the state change in one＇ s life, such as the birth, adolescence, marriage and death. It contains the following three phases： separation, liminality and aggregation. This paper holds that The Catcher in the Rye is just a record of this ritual in the form of literature. Holden Caulfield＇ s behaviors of leaving family and dropping out school are treated as the first phase of “separation”, while his wanderings in New York as the phase of “liminality”. In the end, with his sister Phoebe＇ s help, Holden finally enters the phase of “aggregation”. Thus, the first and most important aim of this paper is to reveal this ritual customs. Then, in the hope of drawing the novel on the list of “novel of formation”, the author comes up with an explanation that Holden＇ s maturity is not the critic＇ s one-sided wish, but doomed by the law of the ritual. Lastly, by introducing “rites de passage”, the paper attempts to draw attention of the literary circle to the theory of “liminality”.