论马丁·艾米斯《金钱-绝命书》的城市书写研究_英语论文

A Study on Urban Narrative in Martin Amis’s Money: A Suicide Note

摘要

马丁·艾米斯是英国当代文学的杰出作家，其作品多次获得“布克奖”提名，《金钱--绝命书》入选《时代 》杂志“一百部英语最佳小说”，其中故事背景设定在伦敦和纽约两大现代化都市，也涉及梦想之地洛杉矶，因此，本文将伦敦、纽约和洛杉矶的城市书写纳入研究范围。小说《金钱--绝命书》以主人公约翰·赛尔夫计划在纽约拍摄商业广告、往返在英美之间的生活为主线，刻画一系列有代表性的人物，展示了消费主义盛行的当代都市文化以及道德沦丧和自我救赎。本文将试图从三大城市的文化设定、角色设定以及艺术手法三个层次，对马丁·艾米斯在《金钱--绝命书》中的城市书写展开探讨。

本文分为五个部分，前言介绍作者及其主要和文献综述，最后部分为研究总结，主体分为三章。第一章是对小说中伦敦、纽约和洛杉矶的城市文化设定进行研究，它们成为小说的故事背景必将承载着文学内涵，也构建了这部小说的都市叙事的空间形态。伦敦和纽约作为国际大都市，它们预示着消费主义文化，而远在加州的洛杉矶也正如《加州旅馆》唱的那样带着神秘的色彩，它是主人公约翰·赛尔夫的梦想之地。第二章对小说在伦敦和纽约的人物塑造展开了探讨，他们是赛尔夫往返于英美之间面对的不同的人，伦敦是他出生成长的地方，而纽约是他目前赚钱的地方。第三章讲述了马丁·艾米斯在小说中的城市书写过程中运用到的修辞手法，其中最主要是倒叙和重复，将人物性格塑造得更加饱满，也使小说中都市叙事的文学空间更加立体。

整体上，本文深入研究了《金钱--绝命书》作者马丁·艾米斯在小说架构上对纽约和伦敦的定位，充分展示了当代都市消费主义文化对人性的侵蚀，家庭文化对性格的影响，也表明了自我救赎的道路并不平坦。本文从城市书写的角度展开分析研究，对该书的都市主题、人物塑造以及后现代小说写作技巧有参考价值和借鉴意义。

关键词：马丁·艾米斯；《金钱--绝命书》；城市书写

Abstract

Martin Amis is an outstanding writer in British contemporary literature, and many of his works have been nominated by Booker Prize. Money: A Suicide Note is one of Martin Amis's masterpieces and was listed in “One Hundred Best English Novels” by Time. The main background of the story is two metropolises: London and New York, and also the dreamland, Los Angeles. The story is mainly based on John Self's life of shifting between Britain and America. In this story, Martin Amis portrays many representative characters, revealing the prevailing urban culture of consumerism and morality crisis, and shows the process of self-redemption. This thesis studies it’s urban narrative by analyzing urban culture, character portraits and rhetorical devices.

This thesis has five parts, with the first part introducing the writer and literature review, the last part as a conclusion and the main body containing three chapters. The first chapter studies the urban culture of London, New York and Los Angeles, which is related to literature functions. The three cities construct the background and convey literature meanings. London and New York are the typical metropolises of consumerism culture, while mysterious Los Angeles is the dreamland of John Self. The second chapter discusses the characters portrayed in different cities: London, where he was born and his personality was infected, and New York, where he does business and has changed inside. The last chapter explores the rhetoric devices used, especially flashback and repetition, which refine the characters.

As a whole, this thesis mainly analyses the story structure of narrative separately in London and New York, and reveals the consumerism culture's negative infects on human nature and morality, family culture influences personality and it is not easy to self-redempt. This thesis could offer some reference to study its urban theme, characters portraits and writing techniques.

Key Words: Martin Amis; Money: A Suicide Note; urban narrative

Contents

Acknowledgments I

摘要 II

Abstract III

Contents V

Introduction 1

Chapter One The Three Different City Cultures 3

1.1 Double Locale in Metropolises: London and New York 3

1.2 Dreamland to Get Reborn: Los Angeles 5

Chapter Two City Portraits and Characters Descriptions 7

2.1 London: The Start of Getting Indulged in Money 8

2.2 New York: The Journey of Getting Saved in Soul 10

Chapter Three Rhetorical Devices Embodied in Urban Narrative 12

3.1 Flashbacks in Characters Descriptions 12

3.2 Repetitions in City Portraits 14

Conclusion 16

Bibliography 17