库切作品中的素食伦理意蕴

The Implications of Vegetarian Ethics in J.M.Coetzee’s Works

诺贝尔文学奖得主J. M.库切的素食主义者身份紧密关联其创作实践。素食主义不仅是库切的生活方式,也是其重要的创作思想。库切将其选择茹素的价值观和伦理观用个性化的艺术手法呈现于作品中,传达其伦理信仰,实践其伦理向导者的角色。其素食伦理既聚焦动物关怀,又饱含对性别他者和种族他者的关切。他在作品中不仅揭露了动物在食肉主义文化中所遭遇的血腥暴力和痛苦,为其生命权利和道德权益伸张,而且戳穿了父权文化下食肉行为所隐匿的性别和政治话语,对与食肉主义纠结合谋的性别压迫和种族暴力严厉抵制和鞭挞。库切期望其作品中内蕴的素食伦理能引起读者对人与动物、人与人之间关系的深刻反思,对人性的扪心叩问,从而达到伦理教诲和道德警示的旨归。然而,他对食肉行为的道德批判及其素食立场本身不免存在伦理悖论,需要我们审慎看待。

The identity of Nobel laureate J.M.Coetzee as a vegetarian is closely tied to his literary writing.Vegetarianism is not only Coetzee’s lifestyle,but also his major creative idea.Coetzee presents his values and ethics of vegetarianism in his work by means of personalized artistic techniques,expressing his ethical beliefs,and playing out his role as an ethical guide.His vegetarian ethics demonstrates both the care for animals and the concern for the victims of gender bias and racism.What he does in his work is to expose the bloody violence and atrocity inflicted on animals in carnivorous culture in defense of their basic and ethical right for survival on the one hand and,on the other hand,debunk the gender-based and political discourse hidden in the carnivore diet in patriarchal culture as a fierce resistance to and relentless denunciation of the gender oppression and racial violence conspired with carnivorism.Coetzee hopes that the vegetarian ethics represented in his work will inspire his readers to reflect on their relationships with animals and with other people,probe into the true nature of human being,and thereby benefit from the ethical instructions and moral admonitions.However,there seems to be some inevitable ethical paradoxes in his moral criticism on carnivore behavior and his vegetarianattitude, which we need to consider in earnest.