信仰与暴力:厄普代克的《恐怖分子》解读

Faith and Terror:An Analysis of John Updike's The Terrorist

厄普代克的小说《恐怖分子》叙述了一个性格腼腆、内心单纯的年轻人如何走上恐怖主义道路的故事。他认为,宗教在其中扮演重要作用,在遭遇精神危机时宗教发挥强大的认同功能,帮主人公重新确立归属感和生活方向,但是宗教极端思想又把他推向恐怖主义的悬崖。厄普代克对恐怖分子心路历程的分析具有一定意义,但对伊斯兰的想象性书写具有东方学意义上的局限性。

Updike’s novel The Terrorist explores how a shy and pure-hearted young man embarks on the path of terrorism. He believes that religion plays an import role in it. In the face of spiritual crisis, religion exerts a powerful identity function and helps the protagonist to re-establish his sense of belonging and life direction. However, religious extremism pushes him to the cliff of terrorism. Updike’s psychological analysis of the terrorist has its significance, but his imaginative description of Islam is limited in the sense of Orientalism.