共生与交叠:弗里曼《替角》中人与动物的关系

Symbiosis and Overlap:A Study of Human-animal Relationship in Freeman’s Understudies:Short Stories

弗里曼在短篇小说集《替角》的前六篇动物故事中探讨了人与动物的伦理关系。她虽然以"替角"为作品名,但不断变换人与动物的角色,改变动物的"替角"身份,让两者在相遇和共生中了解彼此。她抨击人性与动物性二元对立逻辑的话语建构,说明人性与动物性之间的交叠正是文明与自然的融合。为客观认识这种交叠下的自然一体化,实现人与动物和谐共生的生态图景,弗里曼期待人类走进动物的生命,从动物的内在品质反思人性的缺陷,加强道德伦理建设,追求人类的精神进化。

Freeman probes into the ethical relationship between humans and animals in the former six stories of Understudies:Short Stories.Contrary to the title of the book,she doesn’t apply the traditional model presented by the leads and understudies to human-animal relationship but makes animals and humans interact in symbiosis with their changing roles.She denounces that it is the human civilization that establishes the humanity/animality binary,and tries to elucidate that there is overlap between humanity and animality which signifies the integration of civilization and nature.With an aim to help humans gain an objective understanding of the natural integration reflected by the overlapping traits,and to actualize the landscape of ecological harmony,Freeman expects humans to examine the moral traits of animals and conduct a soul-searching reflection on the defects of human nature,through which humans are able to improve morality and ethics and eventually achieve the spiritual evolution.