浅议乔叟古典诗歌的现代性荒诞化叙事——以《坎特伯雷故事集》中的修女院长故事为例

A Study on Modern Absurd Narration in Chaucer’s Classical Poetry——taking the Prioress’s Story in The Canterbury Tales as an Example

文学作品《坎特伯雷故事集》作为“英国文学之父”乔叟的代表作之一,是对中世纪晚期英国社会图景的文化书写,表现了乔叟传统叙事诗的文化特征。故事集中的修女院长讲述了一个关于犹太人杀害唱基督教圣母赞歌的孩童的故事,它充斥着宗教文化和种族文化的对抗。在多元文化冲突中,修女院长以赞颂基督和圣母为目的的“布道”型故事,具有了讽刺、悖论与无序意味,呈现出了一个异化的、虚无的、夸饰的荒诞世界。作品展示了中世纪英国文化背景,并从魔幻现实主义色彩的叙事情节、黑色幽默般的人物命运塑造等方面体现了乔叟古典作品的荒诞化叙事特征。

The Canterbury Tales, one of masterpiece works of the Father of English Literature Geoffrey Chaucer, is about the culture in the late medieval society in Britain, demonstrating the cultural characteristics of Chaucer’s traditional narrative poetry. In this work, a story told by the Prioress is about a Jews’ murdering a young child who sang Anthem to Saint Maria, in which religious and racial conflicts are clearly seen. The sermon-like story presents with the implications of irony, paradox and disorder an absurd world which is full of alienation, nihilism and high exaggeration. With the British cultural background in the Middle Ages, this story displays absurd narrative features in Chaucer’s classical works from the perspectives of narrative plot with magical realism, and character fate shaping with black humor.