《树上的男爵》中的图形—背景转换机制研究

On Figure-background Conversion Mechanism in The Baron in the Trees

长篇小说《树上的男爵》是意大利著名文学家伊塔洛·卡尔维诺的祖先三部曲系列之一。全书景物刻画细致,情感渲染浓郁,画面感强烈,图形—背景的更迭转换使得读者注意力不断地集中在图形上,在阅读认知过程中产生新颖有趣的审美体验。作为认知诗学的文本细读方法之一,图形—背景理论有助于深入分析《树上的男爵》中的图形—背景动态转换机制:图形相对于背景,更为突出醒目,但图形随着情节的进展经常变成背景,反之亦然。图形—背景理论可用于人物群像分析,有些人物属于图形性人物,有些人物属于背景性人物,它们之间对立统一,一定条件下会相互转换。在某些场景下,同时存在正图形和负图形,相辅相成。特定的图形凸显策略对于聚焦读者的注意力也有助益。

The Baron in the Trees,one of the Our Ancestors Series,is a novel written by Italo Calvino.In this book,picture,emotions and scenery are intertwined with the text,consequently scenes are exquisitely depicted,emotions are intensely rendered,even evoking a vivid picture.The mechanism of figure-background conversion helps readers focus on the figures constantly,which makes it possible to generate an original as well as interesting reading aesthetic experience in the cognitive process of reading.This paper,employing one approach of cognitive poetics,close reading,is based on the figure-background theory,which contributes to analyzing the figure-background dynamic conversion mechanism in The Baron in the Trees,ie,the figure is usually more prominent than the background;the figure often converts into the background with the unfolding of the plot,and vice versa;figure-background theory can be used for characters analysis because some characters fall into figurative characters and some characters are grounding ones,and it is likely for them to reverse into each other under certain circumstances.In some cases,there exist both positive and negative figures,which complement each other.Moreover,specific figure strengthening strategies manage to attract the reader's attention.