默多克《砍掉的头》中的“陈列物”叙事

The Narratives of“Display Things”in Iris Murdoch's A Severed Head

艾丽丝·默多克在小说《砍掉的头》中描摹了众多陈列之物,将主体和理性的关系具象化。不同房间中摆件的秩序和偶然无序映射出理性和非理性的冲突,且回应了20世纪英国文化领域科学和人文之争;青铜头颅雕像呈现出对于理性认知的质疑,并对科学理性予以批判;武士刀体现出的宗教性以及理性和非理性的统一性展示了当时西方学者希冀解决理性弊端的尝试。默多克通过这些陈列物和人物的互动内涵地映射出西方文化中理性宰制的弊端,并尝试借鉴东方文化提出解决之径。

In her novel A Severed Head,Iris Murdoch portrays numerous things on display embodying the relationship between subject and rationality.Orderly and contingent things map the conflicts between rationality and irrationality and respond to the contention between“the two cultures”in the 20th century.The bronze head statue presents a questioning of rationality and a critique of scientific rationality,while the samurai sword conveys religious connotations and reflects the unity of rationality and irrationality,which demonstrates the attempts of Western scholars at the time to address the ills of rationality.By representing the interaction of subjects and things,Murdoch reveals the abuse of rationality in Western culture and suggests turning to Eastern culture for solutions.