理想主义、社会关怀和道德教育--论乔伊斯·卡罗尔·欧茨的文学观

Idealism,Social Concern and Moral Education--On Oates’s Views of Literature

美国当代女作家乔伊斯·卡罗尔·欧茨具有小说家、诗人、剧作家、评论家、编辑、普林斯顿大学教授、美国文学与艺术学院院士等多重身份。通过仔细研读欧茨多部文学评论集、为多部美国文学选集所撰写的序言、公开发表的日志,可以发现欧茨是一位理想主义的小说家和评论家。她恪守的文学理念包括:第一,文学总是一种理想主义的、甚至是乐观主义的事业;第二,作家是技艺精湛的“工匠”和永远的“反对者”,具有创造一个“反世界”的强烈动机,致力于完成“神圣文本”,以对抗和改造现实世界;第三,作家应当书写自己的内心,发出个人声音和公共声音,为时代写作,以对读者和民众进行道德教育。对欧茨文学观的探讨有助于深化对美国当代文学特征和发展走向的认识。

Joyce Carol Oates,a contemporary American woman writer,is a novelist,poet,playwright,critic,editor,professor of Princeton University and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.Critics have done a lot of researches on Oates’literary creations,but very few researches on her literary views.Through a careful study of Oates’s literary reviews,prefaces written for many American literary anthologies and published journals,we find that Oates is an idealistic critic,and her views of fiction are as follows.First,literature is always an idealistic,even optimistic cause.Second,writers are skilled craftsmen and persistent opponents who have a strong ambition to create a counter-world and a sacred text in order to confront and transform the world of reality.Third,writers should write their hearts out,write for the times,and make their personal and public voices,and give moral education to the readers and the general public.The study of Oates’s views of literature will help deepen understanding of the characteristics and the trend of contemporary American literature.