罗森堡间谍案——后现代书写与文化记忆的建构

The Rosenberg Case:Postmodern Fiction and the Construction of Cultural Memory

发生在1950年代初的罗森堡间谍案曾被联邦调查局局长胡佛称为"世纪要案"。在麦卡锡主义甚嚣尘上、反共气焰愈演愈烈、美国在朝鲜战争上损失重大的政治气候下,罗森堡夫妇的命运不可避免地受到意识形态斗争的影响。虽然纽约星星监狱里的电椅已从普通民众的记忆里淡去,但半个多世纪以来任何提及罗森堡间谍案的举动都意味着引发一场新的争辩。本文全面梳理并深入探讨历史学家、独立调查者、新闻记者和后现代小说家笔下有关该案的著作,揭示有关该案的非虚构性作品对纪念罗森堡夫妇事实上产生了负面作用,而后现代作家笔下的虚构性"罗森堡文本"却能促成有关美国历史上一个黑暗时刻文化记忆的建构。

The Rosenberg case in the early 1950 s, designated the "Crime of the Century" by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, showcases a clash of contending ideologies: the politicized climate of McCarthyism and Anti-Communism alongside reactions to America’s increasing casualties in the Korean War. To some extent, the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg marked the most controversial espionage case in the last sixty-five years. Despite the electrocution gradually fading from public memory, the past six decades have seen how the mere mention of the case can spur fierce debates. This article examines non-fiction works by historians and independent investigators about the Rosenberg case alongside two major postmodern fictions, evaluating their differing marks upon the image of the Rosenbergs. Ultimately, these non-fiction works undermine the commemoration of the Rosenbergs, while postmodern fictionality seems more conducive to constructing a cultural memory of this dark moment in American history.