“神圣之伤”:论狄金森诗歌中“死亡”的认知意义

The Epistemological Meaning of "Death" in Dickinson's Poetry

通过诗歌细读的方式,本文旨在分析和探讨狄金森诗歌中"死亡"、"知识"和"语言"的关系。本文首先通过诗歌分析阐明狄金森所主张的认识世界的方式并非抽象的推理,而是康德式的主体感知模式;接着分析了诗人"感知死亡"时遭遇的困境,并提出诗人应对这一困境的独特方式,即将"死亡"内化为意识中的空白,然后通过定义这空白的边界来认识死亡;为了进一步理解狄金森定义死亡空白边界的作用,本文继续分析了狄金森"神圣之伤"这一意象,指出该意象所承载的"在删除中铭刻"的思想构成了狄金森解构主义式的悖论诗学:在诗歌中引入"空白",从而以抽象或含混的语言表达不可表达的。

This study explores the meaning and function of 'death' in Emily Dickinson's epistemological pursuit.Through close reading of Dickinson's poems,the paper explicates the value of the Kantian subjective perception in Dickinson's quest of reality.It then argues that out of this very realization of our own cognitive capacity and limit,Dickinson internalizes 'death' within the concept of 'consciousness' and limits her judgment of reality within the boundary of death.To examine Dickinson's measures to counter the cognitive predicament,I continue the study by revealing the salvation connotation in the metaphor 'Heavenly Hurt' in Poem 320,suggesting that this metaphor epitomizes Dickinson's deconstructive thought of 'inscription through erasure',that is,the presence is re/presented through its own absence.She then successfully employs what she has learnt from the nature of her language to explore and express reality.