失落的帝国将如何自处?——《英格兰,英格兰》中的文化记忆与民族身份重构

How Will the Lost Empire Deal with Itself?:Cultural Memory and Reconstruction of National Identity in England,England

英国作家朱利安·巴恩斯在小说《英格兰,英格兰》中以记忆为关键词,通过书写大英帝国衰落后个人和国家的生存境遇来反思当下。他聚焦主人公玛莎,沿着玛莎重返老英格兰时代这条伦理线,分析个体和国家面临的身份认同危机与伦理选择的困境,展示了个体和国家背后记忆与身份之间的冲突和博弈。文章试图思考在历史与现实之间,记忆对民族国家身份建构生成的影响。《英格兰,英格兰》以记忆的伦理书写为文学表达,虚构的小说成为历史的镜子,历史在当代语境中被重新建构,当下在历史的关照中对现实展开批判。

In the novel England,England,Julian Barnes uses memory as the key word to reflect on the present by writing about the living conditions of individuals and countries after the decline of the British Empire.Focusing on the protagonist Martha,he analyzes the identity crisis and ethical choice dilemma faced by individuals and countries along the ethical line of Martha’s return to old England,and shows the conflict and game between memory and identity behind individuals and countries.This paper tries to think about the influence of memory on the construction of national identity between history and reality.England,England takes the ethical writing of memory as the literary expression,and the fictional novel becomes the mirror of history.History is reconstructed in the contemporary context,and reality criticized in the care of history.