走入困境的鹿皮靴——20世纪美国西部小说发展初探

Moccasin Walking into Dilemma:Development of American Western Fiction in the 20th Century

美国西部小说是美国西部文学的重要组成部分,对美国民族性格的形成有重要作用,但却始终未成为一种独立流派跻身于美国主流文学,将其作为整体进行的系统研究少之又少。纵观其发展历程,根源主要在于西部小说背景的广阔复杂性、通俗西部小说的模式化影响和西部小说批评家对"地域精神"的忽视。

American western fiction, one of the foundational genres in western American literature, contributestremendouslv in constructing the American national narrative,but a fullv informed criticism of it as a whole has remained fitful and infrequent. The ＂inferiority complex＂ that American western fiction suffers results from the following factors： the ambiguity of the term ＂west＂, the shadow of the formula western fiction, and critics＇ neglect of the ＂sense of place＂ in individual comoetence.