北美印第安神话传说中的文化英雄

Culture Heroes in North American Indian Mythology

文化英雄是北美印第安传统文化中的重要形象之一,广泛存在于印第安各部族的神话传说和民间故事中。在印第安口头故事中,文化英雄的形态多样,尤以郊狼为代表的动物最为常见。北美印第安文化英雄通常具有创造世界、整顿混世和教化人类的神圣职责,是人类世界和人类文化的伟大造福者;然而,在担当神圣角色的同时,他们往往又表现出好色、自私、欺诈、偷盗等世俗的恶习,是文化传统和道德规范的违背者。这种形态多样、且集神圣性和世俗性于一体的形象看似矛盾,但如从印第安传统文化的视角加以审视则不难看出,它们不仅体现了印第安人相信自然万物皆是亲缘的传统信仰,而且彰显出印第安民族追求和谐统一、平衡共存的宇宙观。

Culture hero, a widespread character in the myths and folklores of the North American Indians, is a predominant image in their cultural tradition. In the oral tales of Native Americans, culture heroes bear diverse forms and are characterized mostly as animals, in which prairie wolves are the most common. Being responsible for creating the world, setting the world in order, and civilizing human beings, Indian culture heroes are regarded as the great benefactor of mankind. However, while playing the sacred role, they appear also as violators of the cultural tradition and moral norms, with such secular vices as lecherousness, selfishness, trickiness and theft. Examined in the light of Indian traditional culture, such ambiguous image not only reflects their tribal belief that all natural beings are related, but also demonstrates their conventional cosmology which pursues harmony, balance, coexistence and unity.