约瑟夫·康拉德早期小说中的印度洋贸易与东西文化冲突

The Indian Ocean Trade and East-West Cultural Conflicts in Joseph Conrad's Early Fiction

康拉德的早期小说多以印度洋为背景,呈现了19世纪东印度洋尤其是马来群岛诸种贸易力量的较量及由此而生的东西文化冲突,为当时的文坛开辟了新的领域。康拉德不仅揭露了欧洲海洋帝国推行的“海洋自由”背后的贸易垄断和霸权本质,而且对以基督教与伊斯兰教为表征的文化冲突背后的经济利益诉求有深刻的认识。他早期小说中的印度洋贸易书写已经显示出他超前的跨文化批评意识以及他作为一个海洋作家的道德良知。

Set in the 19th century Indian Ocean,Joseph Conrad's early novels present both a map of various trade competitions in the east Indian Ocean,specifically in the Malay Archipelago,and a picture of the East-West cultural conflicts thereof,opening up a new world for his contemporary literary imagination.In his early novels,Conrad exposes the trade monopoly and hegemony behind the socalled"freedom of the seas"promoted by the European maritime empires,while deeply exploring the profit-seeking nature of the cultural conflicts between Christianity and Islamism.Conrad's early writings of the Indian Ocean trade exhibit his superior cross-cultural critical consciousness and his moral conscienceas asea writer.