种族立场冲突背后的理智与情感之争——沃尔夫《说“是”》中的隐性叙事运动

Collision between Sense and Sensibility behind Race-Centered Conflict:Covert Progression in Wolff's “Say Yes”

当代美国作家托拜厄斯·沃尔夫的短篇小说《说"是"》看似情节明朗、人物关系简单、主题突出,因而历来受到的关注有限。现有的阐释大多聚焦于小说中夫妻双方在种族立场上的冲突,并未充分挖掘出这篇堪称当代极简主义风格代表作的丰富内涵。倘若将目光投向情节之外的"隐性叙事进程",就会发现还有另一种理智与情感的冲突贯穿始终,并且很可能是小说中这场婚姻风波真正的症结所在。隐性进程中由理智到情感纬度的转向既是作为短篇小说大师的沃尔夫赋予小说人物"顿悟"的途径,又反映出作为天主教徒的沃尔夫对于平衡世俗婚姻中的权力分配格局的思考以及对于人类道德选择的一贯关切。

＂Say Yes＂, a short story by contem paryary American writer Tobias Wolff, has drawn limited critical attention due to its seemingly simple plot, clear-cut characters and manifest themes. Most of the existing interpretations focus upon the race-centered conflict between the couple and thus fail to excavate the rich implications in this story that is an exemplary piece of contemporary minimalist art. However, if attention is paid to the ＂covert progression＂ behind the plot, another conflict throughout the story is likely to be found： the conflict between sense and sensibility, which is more likely the root of the marital crisis concerned. The protagonist＇s departure from sense and embrace of sensibility in the covert progression are Wolff the short-story master＇s way to endow his characters with epiphanies, which also reflect Wolff the Catholic＇s thought on balancing the allocation of power in secular marriages as well as his consistent concern for the moral choices of human beings.