马克·温短篇故事《卖身于撒旦》中的异化主题

Alienation in Mark Twain’s “Sold to Satan”

马克·吐温的短篇小说《卖身于撒旦》主要描述了一个渴望轻松挣钱的人把自己的灵魂卖给撒旦的故事。小说充满了浓厚的科幻色彩,深刻剖析了经济、科技的发展给人类社会带来的巨大变化。本文将以“异化”为关键词,借助西方学者的异化概念,从三个方面探讨科技发展中人与自我之间、人与技术之间以及人与自然之间关系的变化,以期为小说的解读提供新的视角。

Mark Twain’s short story “Sold to Satan” presents a ridiculous deal between Satan and the narrator who decides to sell his soul to Mephistopheles for easy and big money. Characterized by the fascinating science-fiction elements, the story also renders a comprehensive analysis on the dramatic changes of human society brought by the rapid economical and technological progress. Centering around the concept of alienation proposed by some western theorists, this paper looks at the alienated relationship between human beings and their essence, human beings and technology, as well as human beings and nature against the background of technological development so that a new interpretation of the story would be produced.