维·苏·奈保尔的第三世界观与普世文明论辨析

An Analysis of V.S. Naipaul's Viewpoints on the Third World and a Universal Civilization

作为一位被英国文学价值标准和西方价值观念同化的作家,维·苏·奈保尔的第三世界观和普世文明论广受争议。基于其有关前殖民地国家、第三世界的作品和1990年的"普世文明"演说,本文主要对其上述具有争议性的两个问题进行了辨析。研究认为,英国早期的殖民统治对其走出特立尼达并进而在"文明的中心"实现自身作家梦的助力作用是促使奈保尔贬低其他非西方文化和文明并进而推崇以当代英国文明为基础的普世文明的主要原因。独立的观察视角和作家的使命感使得奈保尔说出了那些看似"政治上不正确"的话语;而随着阅历的累积和思考的深入,奈保尔有关第三世界、黑非洲和伊斯兰信仰的某些激进观点也处于不断的变化或修正之中。

As a writer who has been assimilated by British literary criterion and western values,V·S·Naipaul's viewpoints on the Third World and a universal civilization have been controversially criticized. Based on Naipaul's works on the pre-colonies, the Third World and his lecture on a universal civilization in 1990, this paper focuses its analysis on the two controversial problems mentioned above. It is found that it is the aid from the former British colonialism that helped him escape the inappreciable Trinidad and make his dream of being a writer in the center of world come true. In view of his distinctive experience,Naipaul decried some of the non-western civilizations and advocated a universal one based on the contemporary British civilization. Also,Naipaul uttered some words that seemed politically incorrect mainly because of his independent perspective of observation and a powerful sense of mission. Meanwhile,with the development of his thoughts, some of Naipaul's radical standpoints about the Third World,Africa and even Islam are also undergoing changes or modification.