单一反讽还是双重反讽?——论《霍华德庄园》对自由-人文主义全民文化观的深层反思

Irony or Double Irony:Forster's Reflection on the Universal Cultural Conception of Liberal Humanism in Howards End

作为一部关于"文化和社会"的小说,《霍华德庄园》描述和探讨了多个阶级与文化之间的关系,包括伦纳德·巴斯特的中下层身份和文化态度。如果对文本展开深入仔细的研读,可以看出某些批评在解读伦纳德·巴斯特的阶级身份和文化追求时有失偏颇,仅仅将伦纳德视为"文化滥用者"。实际上,福斯特在讽刺伦纳德这位中下层"文化滥用者"的同时,又对自由-人文主义文化观所倡导的高雅文化的全民教育意义和普世社会功效进行了深切反思和深刻反讽。

As a novel about ＂ culture and society＂, Howards End depicts and explores different relationships between classes and culture, highlighting Leonard Bast＇ s lower-middle class identity and his cultural attitude. Previous critics tend to view Forster＇ s attitude towards Bast as being marked by irony towards a culture abuser, but in effect, Forster also has a deeper ironic concern. Behind the depiction of the culture abuser Bast as a butt of surface irony, Forster on a deeper level reflects on and ironizes liberal humanism＇ s conception of the universal educational significance and social function of high culture.