消费文化语境下的《了不起的盖茨比》和《搏击俱乐部》

Fight Club and The Great Gatsby under the Consumer Culture Context

小说家F·S·菲茨杰拉德(F.S.Fitzgerald)的《了不起的盖茨比》和查克·帕拉纽克(Chuck Palahniuk)的《搏击俱乐部》分别创作、发表于爵士时代和后工业时代的美国。二十世纪初的美国经历了从生产社会向消费社会的转变,进入了一个空前繁荣的时期。然而在消费文化的背景下,现代人变得浮躁焦虑,麻木虚荣,曾经的伦理道德和价值标准在追名逐利和浮夸攀比中日渐沦丧和退化,处于消费主义重压之下的现代人处于崩溃的边缘。文章将立足当代消费文化语境,借鉴鲍德里亚的消费社会理论,采用文本分析与社会历史语境相结合的解读方法,以菲茨杰拉德的《了不起的盖茨比》和查克〃帕拉纽克的代表作《搏击俱乐部》为阐释文本,探讨消费文化语境下现代人的精神困境。小说展示了作家们对消费时代现代人的独特思考和人文关怀。

The Great Gatsby and Fight Club, considered to be ES.Fitzgerald＇s and Chuck Palahniuk＇s magnum opus, were created and published in the Jazz Age and the Postindustrial era of America respectively. The 20th century witnessed America＇ transformation from a production society to a consumer society, and since then it entered an era of unprecedented prosperity. Modem consumer culture places consumption at the heart of human life, and the traditional values and aesthetics have been savagely attacked, as a result, human beings are not alienated by specific materials but also by the signs when they are besieged in strong nets of materials. Under the pressure of consumerism, people become increasingly impetuous and numb. Drawing upon Baudrillard＇ theory of semiotics economics, the paper locates Fight Club and The Great Gatsby in the historical context in attempt to explore the spiritual crisis of contemporary people, and thus expresses the writers＇ contemplation and profound concern upon human nature.