男性影响下的双面科普作家:简·劳登和《给女士写的植物学》

A Two-sided Popularizer Under the Influence of Males: Jane Loudon and Her Botany for Ladies

简·劳登是19世纪科普作家,出版了20余部植物学和园艺学作品,《给女士写的植物学》是其植物学代表作。在高度性别化的维多利亚语境中,劳登的生活和职业都受到男性的影响,主要体现在:身为园艺师约翰·劳登的妻子,她有学习植物学和园艺学的动力;丧偶和债务让她走上职业科普作家之路;采用低成本的黑白木刻插图,注重其解释功能而非美感;紧随植物学家的步伐,走向现代化的植物学,包括采用自然分类系统、再版去除有性别指向的标题;告别老传统中女性喜欢的书信体和对话体植物学写作,采用男作家更认可的教科书风格等。劳登和这本书既体现了她作为传统的中产阶级女性和职业的科普作家的两面性,也体现出科普写作老传统和新传统的两面性。

As one of the most prolific and influential popularizers in the 19^th century, Jane Loudon published over 20 works on botany and horticulture, among which Botany for Ladies is her masterpiece in botany. Living in a highly gendered society during the Victorian period, both her life and career were greatly influenced by males. Being the wife of John Loudon, a famous landscape gardener, was the strongest motivation for her to learn botany. The death of her husband and the debt left by him forced her to become a professional popularizer. Unlike most female popularizers, Loudon adopted black-and-white wood engravings for their explanatory function and lower cost rather than their aesthetic attraction. She also followed contemporary prestigious botanists and engaged in the modernization of botany by adopting natural classification system and erasing ＂ladies＂ from the title of the book. Moreover, she did not write in the familiar formats of letters and conversations, often used by the previous generation of female popularizers, but shifted to the textbook style favored by male popularizers. Loudon and her Botany for Ladies present not just the two- sided character of a traditional middle-class woman and professional popularizer, but also the combination of the old and new traditions of popular science writing.