《曼哈顿中转站》中的摩天大楼书写与现代城市生活批判

Skyscrapers Writing and Criticism of Modern Urban Life in Manhattan Transfer

在多斯·帕索斯的小说《曼哈顿中转站》中,商业性的摩天大楼不仅锻造了纽约城市的天际线,它所彰显的物质上的非凡成就及其所暗含的攀升理念,也建构了一整套“成功”话语,吸引野心家们不顾一切地向上爬。但对于普通人来说,高耸的摩天大楼无休止地注视着他们的生活,使其不得不调整身心以适应,在这一过程中,摩天大楼所隐含的拜物主义和消费文化也渗透到他们的意识之中,由此参与了人的异化。此外,还有一些既蔑视物质成功、又抵制平庸生活的年轻人,他们试图变革或摧毁摩天大楼,他们的失败显示出人在城市空间内所遭受的矮化。多斯·帕索斯通过揭示摩天大楼对不同群体的影响,将巴别塔化的纽约描绘为一个欲望之都、规训之所和毁灭之城,对现代城市生活方式提出了质疑,并表达出逃离城市的愿想。

In Dos Passos' s novel, Manhattan Transfer, commercial skyscrapers forge the skyline of New York City, but the materialistic splendor the cityscape embodies and the notion of ascension it implies have constructed a whole discourse of “success” that lures ambitious people to climb the social ladder at all cost. For ordinary people, however, the towering skyscrapers are ceaselessly watching their lives and forcing them to adapt to it by adjusting their bodies and minds. In due course, the notion of materialism and consumer culture as symbolized by the skyscrapers also penetrate into people's consciousness and thereby take part in their alienation. In addition, some young people, who despise material success but reject a life of mediocrity at the time, attempt to transform or destroy skyscrapers, but their failure shows the downgrading position of citizens within the urban space. By revealing the impact of skyscrapers on different groups of people, Dos Passos depicts the Babelized New York as a city of desire, discipline, and destruction, questions the modern urban lifestyle, and expresses a hope to escape from the city.