论西蒙·阿米泰奇与英格兰诗歌传统

The Disintegrated Subject in the Affluent Society:Revisiting John Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent

当代英格兰诗歌中诗人的创作风格各异,而其中对英格兰诗歌传统承继与发展最突出的诗人是西蒙·阿米泰奇。作为当代英格兰诗歌传统的传承人,阿米泰奇构建了自己独特的诗歌风格:继承和发扬哈代和拉金以来的英格兰诗歌传统,运用简单明晰的文字对当代英格兰生活中的重要方面加以描绘和呈现;同时借鉴当代美国诗歌对当代社会文化中暴力和复杂人性的呈现,以充沛的活力体现出对社会人生的洞察,在冷峻的勾画里展示了人性的善恶。阿米泰奇融合了英格兰诗歌20世纪以来的两种主流诗歌风格,形成了既具有典型的英格兰诗歌传统,又具有突出的个人色彩的诗歌风格,从而成为英国当代最受欢迎的诗人。

John Steinbeck's The Winter of Our Discontent is a controversial work.As the cultural product of post-war American affluent society,the novel is a reaction to contemporary society with its focus on the paradox of the subjected beings who submit to the ideology of consumerism.The protagonist Ethan,one of those subjects trapped in this ideology,loses his freedom as an individual and becomes'a slave to money',who fails to stick to his moral principles,resulting in the'fission'of his identities.Though the final scene of the novel indicates some hope which Steinbeck cherishes when he feels disappointed with the reality.However,it is a false one colored with pessimism.