《美国悲剧》中的“美国梦”与法律正义

1914年至1925年11年间,德莱塞以"纽约州诉杰勒特案"为原型写成小说《美国悲剧》。小说讲述了出身贫寒的男主人公因为一部关于节育和堕胎的禁止性法律——《坎斯托克法案》(1873)而走向犯罪的故事。小说出版之后,马萨诸塞州联邦法院以违反《坎斯托克法案》为由,将其裁定为禁书,因此,一部法律不仅制造了若干美国青年的人生悲剧,还给一部美国文学中的经典小说制造了不少的麻烦。《美国悲剧》以美国法律为背景,以"发生频率已到了惊人的程度"的一类刑事案件为创作素材,完整呈现了一个凶案发生的全过程,小说通过详尽刻画案件的侦查、庭审、判决甚至死刑执行的过程,深刻透视和质疑了美国法律及美国司法过程与身处社会底层的普通美国人的"美国梦"之间的关系,从一个角度预见了美国法律的后现代转向。

Theodore Dreiser spent over 10 years from 1914 to 1925 creating the novel An American Tragedy,the plot of which is based on the 1906 case“New York v.Chester”.The Comstock Act(1873),a law that forbids birth control and abortion,presses the poor male protagonist into criminal actions.In 1930,Massachusetts Federal Court banned the novel for breaking the Act.The Comstock Act was not only the cause for tragic fates of many a young person,but also posed troubles to the novel itself.Murder cases of stunning occurrence rate inspired the novel,which minutely narrates the crime,investigation,trial,conviction and enforcement.Dreiser thus probes into the relation between law,judicial processes and the pursuits of American Dream by the poor,and to some degree,foresees the emergence of American postmodernist jurisprudence.