认知诗学的“图形——背景理论”与《慈悲》的叙事聚焦

An Analysis of Figure-ground Theory and Narrative Focalization in A Mercy: A Cognitive Approach

认知诗学的"图形—背景理论"与叙事聚焦紧密联系,"图形"和"聚焦"都是为了实现凸显和吸引观众注意力的效果。诺贝尔文学奖获得者托尼·莫里森在其作品《慈悲》中使用多重聚焦。以第一人称回忆叙事的内部聚焦为图形,读者可以更好地了解主人公的心理活动。以故事内的人物外部聚焦为图形,一些边缘人物有机会从背景中脱颖而出,提升了审美注意度。多重聚焦一方面丰富了《慈悲》的多重主题和人物性格刻画,实现了图形和背景的转换,另一方面也使小说的叙事参与民主化,从多方面渗透出作者对黑人民族生存状态的高度关怀。

Figure and ground theory closely correlates with narrative focalization for that＂figure＂and＂focalization＂are both for the effect of prominence and attracting attention of the audiences. Toni Morrison,the Nobel Prize winner in Literature,deploys multiple focalizations in her fiction A Mercy. In the case of using first-person retrospective internal focalization as figure,readers can understand the protagonist＇s psychological activities better. While in the case of external focalization by characters of the story,some peripheral characters may have chance of standing out from the ground and get more aesthetic appreciation. On one hand,multiple themes and characterization in A Mercy are enhanced,and figure-ground reversal is achieved in A Mercy through multiple focalizations; on the other hand,it also realizes the democracy of narrative participation and reveals the author＇s great consideration towards the black community.