听觉叙事与伍尔夫的诗化小说:以《达洛维夫人》为例

The Auditory Narrative and Lyrical Novel in Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway

学界对英美现代主义文学的研究长期为视觉因素所主导,侧重关注电影与文学的关系。然而,正如乔纳森·斯特恩在《可听见的过往》(The Audible Past, 2003)中所指出的那样:“声音、听觉和聆听在现代文化生活中至关重要。”许多现代主义作家对声音这一媒介都极为敏感。弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫《达洛维夫人》中的伦敦就充满着丰富多样的都市声音:门铰链的转动声、大本钟的敲击声、街道上的喧哗声,还有空中飞机的嗡嗡声……声音在该小说叙事中发挥着重要的作用。本文试图借鉴新近的声音研究成果,考察伍尔夫如何成功营造出伦敦的现代都市音景,并利用声音推进叙事场景转换。本文认为,声音的功能不仅在于营造现代的都市氛围,还影响了小说人物对现代性的感知。伍尔夫的文体实验与声音密切相关。她试图运用声音去打破传统小说的线性叙述并创造一种诗化的小说语言,以更加充分地表达都市漫游者的现代心灵。

The studies on literary modernism have long been dominated by visual hegemony. However, in The Audible Past(2003), Jonathan Sterne points out that “sound, hearing, and listening are central to the cultural life of modernity”. Building on recent scholarship of sound studies, this essay investigates how Virginia Woolf builds up a modern soundscape in Mrs. Dalloway, which displays a world full of various sounds: the creak of door hinges, the repeated chiming of Big Ben, the bellow and the uproar on the streets, the whirring of aeroplanes, etc. Woolf’s characters grasp the essence of modern life through not only seeing, but also listening. By examining how different sounds shape their perception of London, this essay argues that Woolf aims to use sound to break the traditional linear narrative conventions. It further suggests that auditory perception can shed light on Woolf’s attempt to create a lyrical novel to better represent the consciousness of modern flaneuse.