小女人致敬大海军:《劝导》的后殖民主义解读

A Little Woman Paying Respect to a Great Navy: A Post-colonial Interpretation of Persuasion

由于奥斯丁作品较为狭窄的题材选择,学界传统观点一般认为,其作品缺乏对时代变革的直接呈现与描摹,在某种程度上,这其实是一种片面的误读。在本文看来,关于英国的社会问题,奥斯丁同样有着精妙的观察与评判。结合其个人信件与传记,重读《劝导》,就不难发现,这部小说集中了她对于拿破仑战争期间英国海军事务的思考与洞见,也侧面验证了萨义德揭示的文化与帝国的"共谋"关系。

Austen has been traditionally held to be a writer offering little delineation of social transformations due to her limited choice of subject matter,which,to some degree,is a sort of misreading.As a matter of fact,Austen commented upon the social affairs of her age with rare acumen.Based upon a rereading of Persuasion,as well as her letters and biographical materials,this paper analyzes her ideas and insights into the British naval affairs during the Napoleonic Wars,thus confirming the complicity between culture and empire as revealed by Said.