阅读与社交:《傲慢与偏见》中的功利主义阅读文化

Book-Reading and Social Intercourse: Utilitarian Reading in Pride and Prejudice

在功利主义盛行的18至19世纪,人们往往出于某种实用目的而阅读书籍。奥斯汀在《傲慢与偏见》中刻画的很多人物都把阅读视作一种功利性的社交手段。透过分析这些人物的阅读动机和行为,可以帮助我们理解阅读在19世纪语境下的社会交往中所发挥的作用。柯林斯借由拒斥小说读物、选取说教书籍宣示自己的阶级站位;玛丽则将比小说艰深乏味许多的宗教书籍作为自我彰显的工具;而宾利小姐和莉迪亚则通过装腔作势的阅读来吸引异性。奥斯汀以细腻诙谐的笔触描绘了这些读者在功利心驱使下的阅读活动,不着痕迹地批评他们的功利主义阅读观。

At the turn of the eighteenth and nineteenth century when utilitarianism prevailed, people used to read books for practical purposes. In Pride and Prejudice, Austen portrays many characters who regard reading as a means for social intercourse. By analyzing the motives behind their reading, we can understand the role played by book-reading in the nineteenth-century social interactions. To define his social rank, Collins prefers dogmatic scriptures to novels;Mary takes religious books, which are much more obscure and tedious than novels, as her means of self-manifestation;while Miss Bingley and Lydia attract males through pretentious reading. By depicting exquisitely and humorously the reading activities of these readers driven by utilitarian desires, Austen implicitly criticizes their utilitarian perspectives on reading.