论刘易斯《巴比特》的肖像化叙事策略

The Portraiture Narrative Strategy in Lewis' s Babbitt

美国第一部诺贝尔文学奖获奖小说《巴比特》并不是通常所认为的现实主义和讽刺文体的矛盾杂糅,而是具有多元性的现代现实主义特质的高超的艺术作品。刘易斯运用了一种詹姆斯·费伦所说的"肖像化"的叙事艺术,把叙事成分与人物素描成分结合了起来,消解、化解或者说缓解了事件的发展过程。肖像化叙事艺术的分析表明:巴比特不但是一个循规蹈矩、自满得意的美国人,而且还具有通常被人们所忽视的另一面:一个不满意和不快乐的美国人,一个消费文化的精神奴隶。

Babbitt is the first American novel of winning Nobel Prize for literature. Though a great number of western scholars have given high praise to Babbitt,they also suspect the novel＇s artistic technique. A close reading of Babbitt in its cultural context reveals that the novel is not the paradoxical combination of realism and satire,but the great artistic work with multiple features of＂modern realism ＂. Lewis applies what James Phelan calls a ＂portraiture narrative＂ strategy to connecting the elements of the narrative and character sketch,which dispel,resolve or alleviate the events＇ developments. It demonstrates that Babbitt is not only a conformist and complacent,but dissatisfied and joyless American and a spiritual slave in consumer culture.