作为“英国性”践行者的普通劳动者——19世纪英国现实主义小说对“英国性”的建构

Ordinary Workers as Doers of Englishness:Construction of Englishness in Nineteenth-Century English Realistic Novels

19世纪英国现实主义小说对英国社会的反映深度与广度是毋庸置疑的,但学界往往把焦点集中于其对社会黑暗面的批判,而对于其对英国性的建构鲜有论及。本文以19世纪最负盛名的几位现实主义小说家的部分代表性作品为例,探讨现实主义小说家们如何把普通劳动者塑造成传统英国性的守卫者和践行者,如何把勤劳、善良、正直这些美德建构成传统英国性理想表征,并探讨他们之所以如此建构的原因和意义。

There is no doubt about the depth and breadth of the representation of British society in nineteenth-century English realistic novels,but the academic circles tend to focus on their critique of the dark side of society,and rarely discuss their construction of Englishness.This paper,taking some representative works of several of the most prestigious English realistic novelists in the 19th century as examples,attempts to explore how realistic novelists portray ordinary workers as guardians and doers of traditional Englishness,and how they endow traditional Englishness with such virtues as diligence,kindness and integrity,and then discusses the reasons and significance of their construction.