维多利亚时代历险小说中帝国的男性气概--以《所罗门王的宝藏》为例

Imperial Masculinities in Victorian Adventure Romances:Take Solomon’s Mines

在政治、经济、性别变化的压力下,十九世纪晚期人们所期待的男性气概的标准发生了变化,男性气概被与帝国的存亡联系起来。这种变迁在英国作家赖德·哈格德的《所罗门王的宝藏》中有着明显体现。男人们在帝国的边疆摒弃了理性克制的绅士观,挣脱文明的枷锁,尽情杀戮,在同性社会关系中建构自己的男性气概,沟通过去与现在、自我与超我、自我与他者之间关于男性气概的本质认同。这种野蛮的男性气概既迎合了帝国扩张的欲望,又跨越了种族与文化的界限,暴露出男性气概与殖民主义之间既支持又对抗的复杂关系。

Under the pressure of the political,economic and gender change,the ideal masculine standards changed in the late Victorian era and masculinities were viewed as essential for the survival of the Empire.The shifting masculine ideals are best reflected in Victorian adventure romances,especially Rider Haggard’s King Solomon’s Mines.In the imperial frontier,the Egalitarian Eden and a place for games and adventure,English gentlemen revitalized the vitality suppressed by civilization and the return to primitive masculine ideals in homosocial environment.The barbaric manliness responds to the imperial desire,but it also transcends the racial and cultural boundaries,revealing the contradictory nature of imperial masculinities.