盖茨“意指”理论的建构语境与国内研究综述

Construct Context of Gates’Signification Theory and Review of the Domestic Studies

当代黑人学者小亨利•路易斯•盖茨在专著《意指的猴子》中开创性地建构了一套适合于非裔美国文学批评的理论体系,即“意指”理论。该理论以一种内生于黑人文学阐释传统的方法论和视角使黑人文学批评得以为自己言说,冲破了白人霸权文化和批评理论的禁锢,实现了从边缘向美国中心文学批评的跨越。回顾和考察盖茨“意指”理论建构的历史文化语境,梳理和归纳国内学界开展的相关研究发现:从现有成果来看,虽然国内学者的研究取得了较为丰硕的成果,但部分研究倾向于简单地介绍盖茨的观点,缺乏系统性、关联性以及深度的分析。

In his book The Signifying Monkey,contemporary black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr.construct a theoretical system suitable for African American literary criticism,namely the theory of signification.Based on a methodology and perspective rooted in the tradition of black literary interpretation,this theory allows black literary criticism to speak for itself,breaks free from the constraints of white hegemonic culture and critical theory,and achieves a leap from the margins to the center of American literary criticism.After reviewing and analyzing the historical and cultural contexts in which Gates’s theory of signification was constructed,as well as summarizing the findings of research done by domestic scholars,we have the following conclusion:while domestic scholars have achieved fruitful results,some of the studies simply introduce Gates’views,lacking systematic,relevant and in-depth analyses.