福斯特与《印度之行》的“自治”书写

C E.M.Forster and Autonomy Writing in A Passage to India

在E.M.福斯特的小说《印度之行》中,英国女性的歇斯底里、印度穆斯林对空想伊斯兰王国的摒弃以及跨国友谊的破裂,三者都隐而不显地指向了“自治”这一题旨。从自我决定这一层面上讲,女性的歇斯底里源于缺乏自主权的社会现实,体现了福斯特对现代女性生存现状的思考。而从国家自治这一宏观角度而言,以阿齐兹为代表的印度穆斯林摒弃伊斯兰王国的怀旧情绪,在宗教立场上做出妥协的姿态,由此观照了20世纪初印度社会日渐高涨的民族独立运动。此外,跨国友谊的破裂意味着以阿齐兹为代表的印度必须与以菲尔丁为代表的英国分道扬镳,这一结局在彰显个人关系无法建构民族主体性的同时,也暗示了福斯特与帝国主义的彻底决裂。

In E.M.Foster’s A Passage to India,Englishwomen’s hysteria,Indian Muslims’abandonment of the Utopian Islamic Kingdom,and the rupture of the transnational friendship,all implicitly point to the theme of“autonomy”.From the perspective of self-determination,Englishwomen’s hysteria is a reaction to their lack of autonomy and reflects Forster’s thinking on the status quo of modern women.At the macro level of national autonomy,the Indian Muslims represented by Aziz forsook nostalgia for the Islamic Kingdom and compromised their religious belief,alluding to the growing independence movements in early twentieth-century India.Moreover,the rupture of the transnational friendship means that India represented by Aziz must break away from the British Empire represented by Fielding.While demonstrating that personal relations are insufficient to construct national subjectivity,the denouement also implies that Forster has made a complete break with imperialism.