走向过去:《隐之书》中的叙事欲望

Approaching the Past: Narrative Desire in Byatt's Possession

A.S.拜雅特的《隐之书》是一部以维多利亚时代为背景的后现代小说,但小说叙事连贯完整,显示出作者拜雅特想要重新捕捉维多利亚时代之精神的渴望,也显示出她"占有"过去的欲望,而并置的故事情节使得她能够保持其叙事欲望。小说呈现出基本的不确定意识,同时又反复强调我们的获取知识的能力,两者之间形成巨大张力。拜雅特坚信其叙事能够重新建构过去,也相信作家能够通过连贯一致的叙事讲述历史事件。

In Possession, A.S. Byatt exhibits the desire to give us a postmodern novel in Victorian setting. The author creates a coherent narrative in Possession, demonstrating a yearning to recapture what she perceives as the vitality and contingent assuredness of the Victorian period. In the ordering of her own narratives, Byatt reveals her need to control the past. The juxtaposed plots allow for the maintenance of her narrative desire. Besides, the novel plays constantly with the tensions between an awareness of the basic uncertainty and a continued assertion that one can know. Byatt displays the greatest degree of confidence in narrative＇ s capacity to reassemble the past, and demonstrates faith in the writer＇s ability to employ historical events in a coherent narrative.