朱利安·巴恩斯小说的当代“英国性”建构与书写模式

The Description and Construction of Contemporary Englishness in Julian Barnes' s Fiction

在当代世界的现代化与全球化进程中,英国与其他欧洲民族国家一样,不得不面对一种"自性危机"。在此背景下,当代英国小说名家朱利安·巴恩斯的小说对"英国性"的反思与建构显现出独特的重要性——巴恩斯小说所集中表现的英国中产阶级白人市民群体,正是全球化扩张中"英国性"应激反应的主体与决定性力量。巴恩斯小说大量展示了这一当代英国主体族裔、阶层的生活世界,这种"在场化"建构完成了对其作为社会中坚的确认。小说通过中产阶级人物的"认知绘图",将具有标志性的空间场域及身处其间的人群置换为国族形象与特性。此外,巴恩斯还多将人物置于当代国族历史轴线的某些节点之上,通过对中产阶级人物及其日常生活的描绘渲染了何为"英国性"。

Facing the challenge of modernization and globalization,England,like other European nations,is threatened with a growing crisis of national identity. Under this circumstance,the significance of Julian Barnes' s fiction and its reflection and construction of Englishness seems obvious. Barnes' s usual protagonists,the urban middle-class white men and women,play a pivotal role in resisting globalization,and are also the most powerful protectors of Englishness. Barnes 's frequent depiction of the major ethnic group and the largest social class confirms the recognition of their status as the social backbone. Through the middle-class figures' cognitive mapping,the landmarks and the local communities are symbolized as the national images. Meanwhile,Barnes often uses the turning point of the second half of the 20 th century as the background of the story,forging the national identity by a representation of the everyday life of the middle-class characters.