莎士比亚作品中的印度人与中国人形象

The Images of Indian and Chinese in Shakespeare's Works

莎士比亚的作品中多处出现过印度人和中国人。二者皆为富有的化身,同时也被赋予卑贱狡猾和欺诈性等反面色彩。英国人基于自身的利益需求,一方面想与印度拉近距离以追求财富,另一方面又惧其诱惑性与危险性,所以将其与欺诈性相联系。中国人在莎士比亚的作品中,尤其是《第十二夜》中是正面的,可是却被18世纪Steevens等学者注解为小偷和骗子之流。究其原因,一是一些词语存在多义性,如cunning,dexterous等常被用来形容中国人的词语含有多义性,容易被人片面地解读和利用;二是《温莎的风流娘儿们》中的"Cataian"本身具有模糊性;三是特殊时期一些人心存偏见乃至别有用心,从Steevens的注解可见一斑。综而观之,莎士比亚作品中的印度人和中国人形象是西方人基于自身利益对二者进行的想象和曲解。

The Indian and the Cataian appear many times in Shakespeare＇s works. They are believed to be rich and yet base and cunning. There are at least three reasons contributing to it. Firstly,the words often used to describe the Chinese including cunning and dexterous have multiple meanings,which could be interpreted partially by some people for some purposes. Secondly,the image of the Cataian in The Merry Wives of Windsor is vague. Thirdly,some people harbor prejudice or even ulterior motives which can be seen from Steevens＇ s annotation. Generally speaking,the images of the Chinese and the Indian actually are kind of imagination and distortion based on the interests of the West.