现代战争里的“空间与地方”——多克托罗内战小说《大进军》中的民族身份建构

“Space and Place”in the Modern War:The Construction of National Identity in E. L. Doctorow’s The March

美国内战是美国进入现代时期的一个重要转折点。美国作家多克托罗的内战小说《大进军》生动展现了在这场现代战争中,人们被从熟悉的“地方”连根拔起,抛入充满未知的“空间”,艰难地寻求新的生命和身份。在现代战争制造的新空间中,人们步入现代的陌生人社会,既感受到未来空间的召唤和自由,也体会到更多的不确定性。在现代战争的“空间”与“地方”之间共同构建起新的民族身份认同这一过程,也正是美国逐渐迈进现代性社会的过程,《大进军》深入思考了在现代进程中影响美国民族身份认同的重要因素。

The Civil War is an important turning point in the process of American modernization.The March, E. L. Doctorow’s novel about the Civil War, vividly reflects American people’s exploration of new life and identity in this modern war, after they are uprooted from the familiar place and thrown into an unknown space. In the new space created by the modern war, people enter a society of strangers, both enjoying the appeal and freedom from the future space and feeling more uncertainties. The process of constructing a new national identity between space and place in the modern war identifies with the process of American modernization.The Marchexplores some important factors that influence American national identity.