西奥多•德莱塞与《嘉莉妹妹》的文学史价值

The Literary and Historic Value of Theodore Dreiser and Sister Carrie

西奥多·德莱塞被称为“当代美国文学的先驱”,他的创作为20世纪美国的文艺复兴奏响了嘹亮的序曲。《嘉莉妹妹》作为德莱塞的代表作,被誉为20世纪第一部伟大的美国小说。在表现内容上,德莱塞真正地关注了社会现实,让作品《嘉莉妹妹》成为反映真实的美国社会的一面镜子;在表现手法上,他一反当时美国文坛的“文雅传统”,采取了客观写实的自然主义风格。这些都为美国小说打开了一个新局面,给美国文学带来了一场革命。事实上,《嘉莉妹妹》的诞生,既是作者本人所处时代的产物,亦是社会转型期美国现实生活造就的必然结果,同时德莱塞的文学创作也受到了来自欧洲的哲学、社会学和文学艺术思想的深刻影响。

Theodore Dreiser,known as the“pioneer of contemporary American literature,”made his works a prelude to the American Renaissance of the 20th century.Sister Carrie,Dreiser’s magnum opus,was the first great American novel of the 20th century.In terms of content,Dreiser expressed his sincere concern about the social reality and made Sister Carrie a mirror of the American society.In the way of expression,he broke away from the“genteel tradition”of the American literary world at that time and adopted the naturalistic style of being objective and realistic.All of these set a new stage for American novels and thus brought a revolution to American literature.In essence,Sister Carrie is not only a product of the author’s own era,an inevitable result of the American society in a period of social transition,but also a true reflection of the philosophic,sociological,literary and artistic influences from Europe on Dreiser’s literary creation.