玛格丽特·阿特伍德《使女的故事》中的双重叙事进程

Dual narrative movements in Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale

长久以来,学界对玛格丽特·阿特伍德经典小说《使女的故事》的研究视角主要聚焦于女性主义、生态主义和反乌托邦等方面,而从叙事学角度分析作品中的双重叙事进程却少有涉及。如申丹教授所言,很多叙事作品在情节的发展上存在双重叙事运动。《使女的故事》的显性情节背后就存在一个描述主教夫人赛丽娜·乔伊人生境遇和情感变化的隐性叙事进程,这股叙事暗流与小说中显性叙事进程对立互补、并列前行,微妙地勾勒出一个令人毛骨悚然的反乌托邦世界,揭示出基列极权社会对个体心灵的扭曲。

Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale was adapted into an American Drama in 2017,which was favorably reviewed and received many prizes.Margaret Atwood’s works have long been discussed in feminist analysis,ecological dimension and dystopian interpretation,but rarely from the perspective of dual narrative movements.As professor Shen Dan has put it,in many texts,there exist double narrative movements.This paper is meant to lay bare the dual narrative dynamics in The Handmaid’s Tale,namely,a covert progression consists of Serena Joy’s life and emotional change behind the overt plot,implicitly complementing and contradicting each other in describing the horrific dystopian society and the distortion of people.The investigation of this covert progression helps explore Margaret Atwood’s unique philosophy and esthetics and reveal her anxiety and concern about human living condition.