透析《人人都爱雷蒙德》中美国中产群体文化身份的操演性

Performativity of American Middle-class Culture Identity in Rituals:Case Analyses of Some Episodes of American Sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond”

以美国情景喜剧《人人都爱雷蒙德》剧情及台词作为研究文本,深层剖析美国中产阶层群体文化身份与其群体文化习性及文化心理的操演互动过程。在该剧如婚礼、葬礼、节日等有关中产阶层生命重要节点意义的仪式操演中,雷蒙德及家庭成员的言语行为范式呈现流程化及诙谐幽默等特征;其消费行为透射出新老中产阶级群体相互冲突的消费观念;其日常文化审美活动亦显现出中产阶级群体内部的精英审美与大众审美共存的审美观念。剧中人物的一系列言语行为、消费行为、审美活动均呈现出仪式化、重复性、秩序化及符号化特征,传承和强化了中产群体有关家庭观念的集体意识,折射出美国中产阶级群体内部多元化的消费观及文化审美习性。此外,剧中人物为宠物安排的戏谑型葬礼仪式以隐喻、委婉语、拟人、戏仿等修辞言语范式突破人类中心主义局限,彰显了美国中产阶级敬畏生命、爱护动物的群体生态主义情怀。

On basis of the research on the plots and scripts of American sitcom “Everybody Loves Raymond”,this paper is motivated to analyze the performativity of American middle-class culture identity and culture habits as well as culture psychology in the ritualized activities.In the important routine rituals such as funerals,weddings,wedding anniversaries,festivities in some episodes of “Everybody Loves Raymond”,the performances of the protagonists’ humorous and functional utterances,the juxtaposition of practicality and affordable luxury in their purchasing,their dieting and decorating as well as their swaying between the elite and the mass culture in the relevant aesthetic activities present to be ritualized,iterated and signified,which inherit and reinforce the middle-class family culture and traditions.Simultaneously,these jocose performances manifest the diversified culture habitus of American middle class including the conflicting consumption values,the swinging aesthetic trends as well as the ubiquitous reverence for all life beings against the anthropocentrism which have been reflected in their employment of rhetorical devices such as metaphors,euphemism,personifications and parodies in the pet funerals.