摘要
美国国家图书奖获得者科勒姆·麦凯恩擅于将基督教意象与爱尔兰传说相结合,探索边缘化人物在地理与心理层面的流亡主题及后殖民时代边缘化人物对自身属性的追寻。短篇小说《姐妹》是麦凯恩作品中这一共性主题的源头之一。本文以主人公布里奇德的殉道为切入点,结合爱尔兰传说中圣·布里奇德的殉道,定义并分析了布里奇德三种殉道的内涵与外延,为读者理解麦凯作品的爱尔兰属性、爱尔兰历史及其与异域文化的关系提供一条新途径。
American National Book Award winner Colum McCann is good at integrating Christian images and Irish legends into storytelling while exploring the geographical as well as psychological exiles of marginalized characters as they pursue their sense of identity as post-colonial misfits.The short story Sisters is one of the very sources of these homogeneous themes.The author of this paper posits protagonist Brigid's martyrdom as the focal point of study,defining,comparing,and analyzing Brigid's martyrdom with the legendary St Brigid's,so as to provide a new way for readers to understand the Irishness and Irish history of the characters in McCann's works,and their relations with alien culture in which the Irish exiles are immersed.