“身处危险的年代”——德里罗短篇小说中的恐怖诗学

The Poetics of Terror in Don DeLillo's Short Stories

德里罗的文学声誉主要是由其长篇小说奠定的,但其创作生涯却是从短篇小说起步的。2011年出版的《天使埃斯梅拉达:九个故事》是德里罗至今发表的唯一一部短篇小说集。与德里罗的长篇小说一样,他的短篇小说也力求表达我们身处危险的年代、恐怖无处不在这一重要主题。在这些短篇故事中,德里罗向我们展现了一个危机四伏的世界,危险、死亡和灾难似乎成了生活中的常规。德里罗在作品中刻画了众多"幽闭小屋中的人",这些人物与社会的隔绝状态本身也会成为恐怖的一部分,因为恐怖也可能来自自己的内心。德里罗的小说语言含蓄、硬朗、冷静、简约。他独特的语言风格与其力图表达的恐怖主题融为一体。在表现恐怖这一主题方面,德里罗的许多长篇小说都被评论家们认为具有某种前瞻性,而他的短篇小说也应该引起我们的重视和思考。

Despite the fact that Don DeLillo's literary reputation mainly rests upon his major novels,he began his literary career with the form of short story.The 2011book The Angel Esmeralda:Nine Stories is the first collection of short stories by DeLillo to date.Like his novels,his short stories also explore such theme as'living in dangerous times.'In those stories,DeLillo presents to the readers a world in which danger,death and disaster seem to become the routine of daily life.For the'men in small rooms'whom he has portrayed in the short fiction,their isolation and alienation from society also constitute part of terror that they encounter,for terror may also stem from within.DeLillo's language is characterized by his implicit,economical,and reserved style.Such a style is inseparable from the theme of terror that lies at the heart of his short fiction.Regarding the exploration of terror,many of DeLillo's novels have been considered by critics to be prophetic.His short stories also deserve our critical attention and serious consideration.