空间与时间的自由游戏——《坎特伯里故事集》中的戏仿与解构

Free Play of Space and Time:The Parody and Deconstruction in The Canterbury Tales

杰弗里·乔叟的诗体短篇小说集《坎特伯雷故事集》是英国现实主义文学的鼻祖,该作品首创了英雄双行体,为乔叟赢得了“英国诗歌之父”的美誉。作品一方面通过戏仿西方传统中的一系列典型二元对立层级结构,另一方面通过让弱势方对强势方施加权力来颠覆组合中的权力层级关系,还以更多细节打破各元素间的对应关系从而突出组合的不稳定性,最后通过模糊概念元素之间的边界来彻底解构二元对立层级结构,呈现意义的“自由游戏”和“不可判定性”,展现了乔叟在文学思想上超越同时代(甚至后来数个世纪)的独特性与先驱性。

Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales,a collection of poetic short stories,gave rise to realism and heroic couplets in British literature,earning Chaucer the reputation as"the Father of English Poetry."Firstly,the text parodies a series of typical hierarchical binary opposites in the Western tradition;secondly,the power hierarchy is subverted with entities traditionally deemed weaker exerting power over their counterparts;thirdly,it breaks the traditional ties both between the former or between the latter,to highlight the instability of the structure.Finally,the structure of hierarchical binary opposites is thoroughly deconstructed when the boundaries between its levels are breached.This study provides a postmodern interpretation of this literary classic created seven centuries ago,which shows Chaucer's pioneering thoughts well ahead of their broader acceptance.