摘要
本文通过分析美国侦探小说几十年来的发展变迁，表明通俗小说是反映美国大众文化主流，尤其是反映美国读者心理和愿望的一面极为敏惑的、较为精确的反射镜。
然而，多少年来通俗小说一直遭到美国学术界的冷落和白眼。直到二战之后，美国绝大多数学者才给予它以研究领域中的一席之地。通俗小说在我国的命运似乎更加不济。我们应该认识到，通俗文学所具有的突出的社会作用和数以亿计的读者群使它在文学的整个殿堂上占具着一个不容忽视的地位。通俗文学不是庸俗文学，作家要创造出较高水平的通俗文学，他必须具有敏锐的洞察力和强烈的社会责任感。无视几万万闲得无聊的大众，不愿意给他们娱乐和满足，不愿意给他们思考和启迪，这本身就是缺乏社会责任感的表现。
Having traced the development of American detective novels from ＂Gentleman＂ through ＂Hard Dick＂ to ＂Super-hard Dick＂ , the author has come to the conelusion that popular novels can serve as a sensitive and reliable reflector of the psychology and wish of American readers. Because popular novels refleet the sense of values of the middle class, meet their aesthetic taste and satisfy their psychological need, they truthfully reflect the American popular culture to a great extent. Therefore, American popular novels demand our close attention and further study.
出处
《南京大学学报（哲学．人文科学．社会科学）》
1987年第2期116-122,169,共8页
Journal of Nanjing University(Philosophy,Humanities and Social Sciences)
