庄园的神话化与祛魅——《一位女士的画像》的双重视野

Mythifying and Demythifying the Country House:Double Vision of The Portrait of a Lady

在《一位女士的画像》中,亨利·詹姆斯分别以理想化和历史化的语言再现了两座英国庄园,展现了对维多利亚时代盛行的庄园神话的矛盾态度。小说一方面以理想化的语言将花园山庄塑造成真实的英国性的符号,从而与庄园神话形成了呼应;另一方面又通过对洛克雷庄园的历史化的表征使庄园神话祛魅,表明花园山庄所象征的真实的英国性实际上是怀旧的城市和工业社会营造出来的商品化的真实性,其存在的问题是掩盖了乡村共同体中固有的阶级压迫和不公。这种双重视野不仅是詹姆斯作为一名作家试图在审美与政治之间寻求平衡的表现,而且也是其作为内部的他者对英国民族身份认同的矛盾性的表现。

Representing two English country houses in idealized and historicized languages respectively,Henry James′s novel The Portrait of a Lady demonstrates an ambivalent attitude towards the myth of the country house that is prevalent during the Victorian era.On the one hand,the novel idealizes Gardencourt as a symbol for authentic Englishness and thus resonates with the myth of the country house,but on the other hand it debunks the myth in its historicized representation of Lockleigh.The condition of Lockleigh reveals that the authentic Englishness housed by Gardencourt is essentially a kind of commodified authenticity created by a nostalgic urban and industrial society.The problem of this commodified authenticity is that it disguises the class oppression and inequality inherent in the rural community.This double vision is a manifestation not only of James′s endeavor to strike a balance between aesthetics and politics as a writer,but also of his ambivalence towards English national identity as an inside outsider.