《四门城》中的第三种人与第三空间

The Third Person and Third Space in The Four-Gated City

第三种人和第三空间构建是多丽丝·莱辛在《四门城》中探讨的主要问题。第三种人指不断超越二元对立、不懈追求个体良心与集体良心交融统一的个体;第三空间指容纳个体差异,个体与集体绵延互动、相互构建的空间。本文针对文本中的内在空间和科德里奇宅以及其间第三种人的形成状态展开分析。内在空间是自我自治空间。科德里奇宅由社会空间的缩影渐变为第三空间,这一动态演变是个体持之以恒地为他者、为集体承担责任的过程,也是个体不断成为第三种人的过程。本文认为这种个体与集体、个人与空间积极的相互构建是《四门城》的重要空间意义所在。在构建人类共同体日趋成为共识的今天,莱辛倡导的成为第三种人、建设第三空间的理想尤为发人深省。

The Four-Gated City distinguishes itself by its exploration of the third person and third space, the individuals unremittingly striving to transcend dualism, reaching the resting point between the individual and the collective conscience, and the difference-accommodating space where the individual and the collective continually interact and mutually construct. This paper analyzes, in relation with the “becoming” of the third person, the inner space, a self-autonomy space, and the Coldridge House, which undergoes a transformation from the extension of the social space to the third space, a conversion materialized by the individual persistently performing the duty for the others and the collective. It is the mutual construction of the individual and the collective, the individual and the space that Lessing emphasizes in The Four-Gated City. To become the third person and establish the third space is of immense significance in the profoundly divided world, where the idea of constructing a community with a shared future for mankind has been increasingly acclaimed.