《大闪蝶尤金妮娅》中的博物学与帝国主义

Natural History and Imperialism in Morpho Eugenia

无论小说构思、人物原型还是主题思想,《大闪蝶尤金妮娅》都突出了博物学元素。在英国殖民扩张的历史语境中,小说叙述的博物学和帝国主义具有共谋性。在话语层面,博物学家威廉照搬欧洲博物学标准为亚马逊森林的物种命名与分类,这体现了意欲"冻结"当地文化的帝国知识话语暴力。在政治层面,殖民者哈罗德的异国动物标本收藏折射出对殖民地的殖民欲望。在经济层面,异国动物标本交易为博物学家个人以及英帝国带来可观收益,占有这些标本是对殖民地的资本掠夺。

In Morpho Eugenia, a Neo-Victorian novella by A. S. Byatt, natural history constitutes an important narrative element. The Victorian naturalist William Adamson＇s way of naming and classifying new species discovered in Amazon Forest in European scientific terms is a discursive violence imposed by imperialism. On the political level, Sir Harold＇s obsession with and possession of the exotic animal specimen betrays a strong colonial desire. For William and Harold as well as for the British empire, the exotic animal specimen is treasure and colonial capital, the possession of which signifies their exploitation of colonial resources. Seen in the historical context of expanding British colonization, natural history has always been contaminated by imperialist ideology and even colluded with imperialism.