浅析哥特传统在福克纳小说中的美学意义_英语论文

On the Aesthetic Significance of Gothic Tradition in William Faulkner’s works

摘要

在英美文学中有着这样一支已延续了两百多年的文学传统，这就是哥特传统。本文即旨在深入剖析一位对美国哥特传统进行了现代书写的美国南方作家——威廉·福克纳。作为二十世纪早期美国南方文艺复兴的先锋人物，福克纳也可足以被铭记为现代南方哥特文学乃至是整个美国哥特文学的领军人物之一，因他以其约克纳帕塌法世系小说为哥特传统注入了新鲜血液，也因而赋予了它们以经久不衰的艺术魅力。下文便将从美学的角度来审视福克纳在这一世系小说中所构建出的南方哥特王国，以赏析哥特传统赋予其作品的独特魅力。论文将首先对哥特传统及其与美国南方的渊源做一个简要介绍，而后的主要部分将围绕福克纳作品中三个突出的哥特要素展开分析：怪诞、恐怖及壮美，并在文章的最后总结其运用哥特手法之独到之处。

关键词： 威廉·福克纳 怪诞 恐怖 壮美 

Abstract

There is one literary tradition in the English and American literature that has lasted for over two hundred years. This thesis is the probing into one modern practitioner of American Gothic tradition in the American South. And that is William Faulkner, the pioneer in the Southern Renaissance in the early 20th century America, who may also deserved to be remembered as a modern pioneer in the Southern Gothic and the American Gothic as a whole, for his fantastic Yoknapatawpha saga has instilled fresh blood into the Gothic tradition while also endowed them with unfailing charms. Specifically, this thesis is intended to venture a close examination of the Southern Gothic kingdom Faulkner has delineated in his Yoknapatawpha saga from the perspective of aesthetics in the hope of appreciating some special charms afforded by the Gothic tradition. At first, the thesis will present a brief introduction to Gothic tradition and its association with the American South, and then the main parts will make some analyses around three prominent Gothic elements in Faulkner’s works, which include the grotesque, horror and the Sublime, followed afterwards by the conclusion of the uniqueness of Faulkner’s handling with the Gothic. 

Key words: William Faulkner Grotesuque Horror the Sublime 

Contents

Introduction 1

Chapter One grotesques Raised in Solitude 3

1.1 The definition of grotesque 3

1.2 Typical grotesques in Faulkner’s works 4

Chapter Two horror in the Deformed Family and Southern Society 7

2.1 Horror in the deformed family 7

2.2 Horror in the deformed Southern society 10

Chapter Three the Sublime in the Fall of the House 11

3.1 The definition of the Sublime 12

3.2 The Sublime in the fall of the Sutpens 12

Conclusion 16

Bibliography 18

Acknowledgements 20