从《瓦解》看阿契贝的“中间”文化观

Achebe's "Intermediate" Culture Conception:Seen from Things Fall Part

作为非洲"现代文学之父",尼日利亚的钦努阿·阿契贝对文化采取一种包容辩证的态度即"从中间立场来看待事物"。这种文化选择,最深刻地体现在反击殖民文化、书写本土文化的《瓦解》中。《瓦解》的主人公奥贡喀沃的毁灭正是由于坚持文化的强势,不肯妥协和变通而造成的,这是他悲剧命运的深层原因,而他对伊博传统文化的背叛则直接导致了他的失败。阿契贝的"中间"文化观是伊博人偏重二重性的文化传统、非洲万物有灵的宗教传统和东方天人合一的传统文明共同造成的。当然,他本人的生存体验也至关重要。阿契贝的"中间"思维促进了对文明普遍性的质疑与对人性共通性的思考,有利于促进文化的和谐共生,对于提高东方文明的重要地位有着极大的借鉴意义。

As"father of modern African Literature",Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe takes a dialectical and inclusive attitude toward cultures,which is featured in"examining matters in an intermediate stand".Such a cultural choice is most profoundly reflected in his Things Fall Part which portrays local culture and rejects colonial culture.Okonkwo,hero of the novel,falls apart because of his insistence on strong side of the culture and because of his rejection of compromise and alteration,which form the underlying reason for his tragedy.And his betray of traditional Igbo culture leads to his failure.The"intermediate"culture concept of Achebe is result from the combination of the duality-inclining Igbo cultural tradition,animistically religious African tradition and Heaven-human-in-one Eastern tradition.Besides,his personal life experiences play vital roles.The"intermediate"ideas of Achebe inspires skepticism of cultural universality and meditations on common human nature,which is helpful for harmonious coexistence of cultures and significant for heighten the status of eastern cultures.