威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆东方故事的疾病叙事与后殖民性

Disease Narrative and Postcoloniality in Maugham’s Eastern Colony Stories

威廉·萨默塞特·毛姆的短篇小说数量众多且题材广泛,其中一系列以英帝国在远东、南亚以及南太平洋殖民地为背景的小说精确刻画了下层官员、洋行职员、传教士、小商人和小农场主等底层殖民者在异域的生存困境和身份焦虑。此类小说通过记述人物罹患的结核、疟疾和癔症等身体和精神疾病,暗示殖民统治在东方日渐衰亡的事实,同时疾病叙事也是毛姆用以消解流行殖民话语的写作策略,使小说带有后殖民主义的特征。

William Somerset Maugham has been one of the authors who has the most readers in the English literary history.His antipathy towards imperial colonialism can be found in many of his short stories.This paper focuses on his Eastern colony novelettes and explores his manipulation of disease images which was consciously used by the author for metaphorical purposes.This paper is aimed to prove that the decay of physical as well as psychological wellbeing parallels the corruption of colonial institution and the downfall of British colonialism.Maugham's skillful narration of disease serves both the structure and the theme of these stories.By the disease narratives Maugham makes his effort to subvert the popular discourse of colonialism.