论《伦敦新闻画报》中的晚清中国皇帝形象

On the Images of China’s Emperors of the Late Qing Dynasty in the Illustrated London News

《伦敦新闻画报》中的中国人形象以道光、咸丰、同治三位晚清中国皇帝最具代表性。道光皇帝面对濒临崩溃,处于夕阳余辉时代的晚清帝国,勉强支撑危难局面;咸丰时代的晚清帝国已是大厦将倾,他只能苦心维持,艰难度日;同治皇帝在国家治理中的作用很有限,更多地作为国家象征符号出现。他们的共同特点是自大而傲慢、无知而自作聪明、创新中又守旧,想有所为而无所作为;忙碌地出现于婚礼、祭祀、觐见等各种仪式中,成为某种符号象征而非具有自由意志的个人。《伦敦新闻画报》在对中国皇帝的报道中综合运用了图文互补、对比参照、立体动态等新闻报道和文学叙事手法,从而拓展了作品的意义空间,增强了作品的表达效果,展示了作品中的人物形象。

Among the Chinese people covered by the Illustrated London News,three emperors of China in the late Qing Dynasty,Taou Kwang,Hsian Fou and Tung-che were typical. In the face of the imminent collapse of the late Qing Dynasty,the Taou Kwang Emperor struggled to support the situation in distress; the Hsian Fou Emperor could only painstakingly maintain the dying empire; during his reign,the role of the Tung-che Emperor in state governance was very limited,and he appeared more as a symbol of the state. These three emperors were marked by arrogance,ignorance,innovation but conservativeness,ambition but incapability. They were symbols rather than individuals with free wills,unusually busy at ritual scenes,such as the wedding,worship ceremonies,the reception of the foreign ministers and consuls. In its coverage of China＇s emperors,the Illustrated London News used news reporting methods and literary narrative techniques including complementary text-image,comparative reference,and comprehensive dynamics,thereby expanding the meaning space and enhancing the expression of the work,as well as displaying the characters in the work.