恐怖的背后:论《奥特朗托城堡》中的阶级、性别与政体

Behind Horror:The Class,Gender and Politics in The Castle of Otranto

《奥特朗托城堡》是英国哥特小说的开山之作。在该小说中,"恐怖"成为文学的主要描写对象。在恐怖的背后,包含着丰富的社会信息。结合恐怖诗学,《奥特朗托城堡》的恐怖类型分为命运恐怖、权力崇高和乱伦暗恐三种。通过命运恐怖,瓦尔浦尔表现了18世纪英国社会阶层的变化;通过权力崇高,作者描绘了理想的政治体制;通过乱伦暗恐,18世纪的社会性别体制得以展现。瓦尔浦尔借助于"恐怖"这一文学对象,通过"崇古"的形式,讲述了"现在"的故事。

The Castle of Otrantois the seminal work in English Gothic novels.In this writing,horror becomes the important object of literature.The novel contains plenty of social factors.In the theory of horror poetics,the type of horror can be divided into three types,which are destiny horror,sublime power and uncanny incest.Through the topic of destiny horror,Walpole narrated the changes of British social class in the eighteenth century.By the description of sublime power,the author exposed his views of ideal political system.In addition,uncanny incest reconciled with the prevailing gender system in the 18 th century.According to the portrait of horror,Walpole narrated the current story through the means of using the ancient matter.