帝国危机的隐喻——维多利亚晚期英国海洋小说中的海洋风景

The Metaphor of Imperial Crisis: The Seascape in Late Victorian British Sea Novels

海洋风景不仅是一种与海洋或海洋生活相关的视觉表征,更是一种具有隐喻功能的客观存在。在维多利亚晚期的英国海洋小说中,破旧的航船风景从“国家之船”的角度隐喻了国家治理危机;港口风景通过呈现港口内部衰败的商业景观隐喻了海洋商业危机;异域风景则以“文明他者”的方式打破传统,在“野蛮自我”与“文明他者”的对立中隐喻了殖民文化危机。研究维多利亚晚期英国海洋小说中的海洋风景,有利于挖掘海洋风景在英国国家形象、社会秩序以及殖民文化等方面的隐喻功能,揭示由海洋风景所反映的19世纪末英帝国陷入危机的原因。

Seascape is not only a visual representation related to the sea or sea life, but also an objective existence with a social function. In late Victorian British sea novels, the decadent ship which owns the metaphorical effect of “the ship of state” stands for the national governance crisis;the image of the decaying seaport implies the marine commercial crisis with its decaying commercial atmosphere;the exotic scenery which focuses on “the civilized other” and “the barbaric self” highlights the colonial culture crisis. Studying on the seascape in late Victorian British sea novels helps explore its metaphorical function in national image, social order and colonial culture, and reveals the reasons why the British empire fell into crisis in the late 19th century.