后殖民主义视角解读《强者的力量》中印第安人众生相

A Post-colonialist Interpretation of the Indian Images inThe Strength of the Strong

美国文学作品中的印第安人具有一定的模式特征:愚昧、凶残和难以逃脱的厄运。杰克.伦敦在短篇小说《强者的力量》中塑造了形形色色的印第安形象,他们的姓名奇特、相貌丑陋、行为粗野,长期处于落后和边缘化的状态,部落之间的纷争和内部的争斗导致了他们必然灭亡的悲剧命运。印第安人模式化形象的塑造和悲惨的结局是殖民主义话语的重要组成部分,他们的形象符合霸权文化和白人殖民者的双重要求,虚假的印第安形象使殖民主义者的掠夺和杀戮合法化。

The ignorance, cruelty and unavoidable misfortune are the stereotyped features of the Indians in the American literary works. Jack London portrays all sorts of Indian images in his short story The Strength of the Strong who have strange names, ugly facial features and boorish behavior, live in the prolonged state of back-wardness and marginalization and come to their tragic end of inexorable extinction because of the fight between the tribes and the internal struggle. The portrayal of the stereotypical Indian images and their tragic fate constitute part and parcel of the colonialist discourse, which are in accordance with the double requirements of the hegemonic culture and white colonialists. The fabricated Indian images justify the expropriation and annihilation of the colonialists.