“另类”的中国乡土小说:赛珍珠《大地》的皖北地方色彩

An“Another”Chinese Local Novel:Northern Anhui Local Color in Pearl S.Buck’s The Good Earth

美国诺贝尔文学奖获奖作家赛珍珠的中国题材作品归入中国文学已毫无异议,其代表作《大地》的乡土色彩却遭到质疑。《大地》是以淮河中游的皖北农村为背景创作的,小说描述的农民王龙种田靠雨、水旱灾害频发等诸多细节无不映射出皖北地区的“水文化”色彩。水患频发制约着皖北人的生产和生活方式,影响和型塑了皖北人的性格特征和文化心理,同时突显出皖北地区的地理环境特征和地域文化特色。从某种意义上说,赛珍珠《大地》是“另类”的中国乡土小说,为中国乡土小说和乡土人物谱系做了有效的填补。

American Nobel Prize-winning writer Pearl S.Buck’works can be categorized into the Chinese Literature,and her masterpiece The Good Earth is questioned for lacking local color.The Good Earth is created with the setting of Northern Anhui rural areas that develops the main plots of Wang Lung’s farming by rain,flood and drought disasters,which all indicate the local“water culture”in Northern Anhui.Water limits framers’production mode and life style,affects and sharps farmers’character traits and culture psychology in Northern Anhui,and also reflects its geographic location of Huai River Basin and unusual local cultural feature.In a certain sense,Pearl S.Buck creates an Another Chinese local novel which fills the gap of Chinese local novels and characters lineage.