文化调适和文明互鉴视野下的跨文化阐释--以对《了不起的盖茨比》的解读为例

On the Misinterpretation of Literary Classics in Cross-Cultural Understanding:The Great Gatsby as A Case Study

现代以来,中国文化与西方文化互为他者与镜像的关系呈现出跨文化交流的异质性,尤其在对西方文学作品解读中,国内学界常存在将自身的价值观念投射、附会于异文化的文本的现象,由此得出带有自我主观性意见的论断。对经典名作《了不起的盖茨比》的解读即是这一现象的典型个案。这一作品常被国内学者认为是对“美国梦”的反思,对其虚幻性与欺骗性加以揭示;而国外学者则聚焦于作者对小说中呈现的当时社会道德沦落与“美国梦”无法实现的不满。而以历史化的原则深入解读小说情节和叙事策略,我们可发现它是对资本主义社会浮世绘的叙述,借“美国梦”在特定时期无法完满实现的现实,再次确证其价值;这是因为它本质上是资产阶级自我意识的展现,是对所谓“现代性观念”的自我确认。由于阐释者和创作者基于不同的文化背景下迥异的价值观认同,国内外学界对于同一文本叙事产生了微妙、但具决定性意味的认知差异。跨文化文本阐释中的这种误区启示我们在解读不同文明文化的社会和时空语境中的文本时,需要进行必要的“文化调适”,从而在“文明互鉴”的视野下坚持阐释的历史化原则。

In cross-cultural interpretation of literary classics,there is a common mistake that projects self-values and attaches them to different cultural works.This paper takes the Chinese interpretation of The Great Gatsby as an example to illustrate this phenomenon.This novel is generally regarded as a presentation of the collapse of the American Dream and a revelation of its illusory and deceptive nature.Yet these views are all specious.In effect,by rewriting the“American story”,it shows class contradictions;with the narration of the implied author,the writer's political unconscious becomes the mouthpiece of bourgeois ideology.Therefore,under superficial reflection and criticism,it actually confirms the value of the American Dream.This informs us the importance of maintaining the principle of historicization in trans-cultural interpretation.