Emily Dickinson_An Interrogator of Death and Immortality
ISSN1009—5039
OverseasEnglish匿圃圜圜
zwwx@overseaen.corn
http://www.overseaen.com
Teh+86—55l一56908ll 56908l2
EmilyDickinson:AnInterrogatorofDeathandImmortality
CHENHan‘’nmg
(DepartmentofForeignLanguages,YellowRiverConservancyTechnicalInstitute,Kaifeng475004。Chin...
ISSN1009—5039
OverseasEnglish匿圃圜圜
zwwx@overseaen.corn
http://www.overseaen.com
Teh+86—55l一56908ll 56908l2
EmilyDickinson:AnInterrogatorofDeathandImmortality
CHENHan‘’nmg
(DepartmentofForeignLanguages,YellowRiverConservancyTechnicalInstitute,Kaifeng475004。China)
Abstract:EmilyDickinsoniswidelyregarded觞oneofAmerican’spremierpoe惦ofthenineteenthcentury.Inbothstyleandcontent,her
versewas,”revolutionary”inherday.Owingtothedeepexplorationofdeathandimmortality,EmilyDickinsonhasbecomeapuzzlein
literary.Asshowinherpoems,Dickinson’sspiritualjourneyledherfromna?venature—mysticismthroughdisappointment,toasacramental
approachtoimmortalityafterlifeandfurtherdiscouragement,culminatinginamatureattirudeoffaithfulunknowingandevenmoreinter-
rogatingtheimmortality.Tllispaperwillbaseonthetheoryofthedeathandimmortalitythroughcommonpeople’sfeartodeath。the
essenceofdeath,山esignificanceofdeathtoshow山epoetess’swhole雎一c蛐dhood。love,lifecondition,spiritualcontradiction,and
mainlyherskepticalconceptofdeathandimmortality.
Keywords:DeathandImmortality;wholelife;spiritualjourney;interrogator;analysisandcriticism
中图分类号:n嘶 文献标识码:A 文章编号:1009-5039(2011)10-0226-02
1Introduction
Incontemporaryterms,EmilyDickinsonwasanunpublished
poetduringherlifeandmanyyearsafterward.Shedidnothave
worksin。’print”whilealivingpoet.Shewasa secretpoet--one
whowriteswithoutothersknowing.Diekinson,sworkshavehad
considerableinfluenceonmodernpoetry.Herfrequentuseof
dashes,sporadiccapitalizationofnouns,off-thymes,brokenme—
ter,unconventionalmetaphorshavecontributedherreputation鹊
oneofthemostinnovativepoetsof19th—centuryAmericanliter-
ature.Allinall,EmilyDickinsoninherlife,writing,andvery
existence.daredtobedi能rent.
2AnInterrogatorofDeathandImmortality
2.1Ageniusinanoblefamily
EmilyDickinsonwasbornonDecember10.1830in
Amherst.Massachusetts。toafamilywellknownforeducational
andpoliticalactivity.Herfather,EdwardDickinson,allorthodox
Calvinist.w鹊aprominentlawyerandtreasurerofthelocalcol—
legeandlaterarepresentativeinCongress.,11leDickinsonfamily
wR$firmbelieversineducation.forwomen8.8wellasmen.Emi.
1y'sgrandfatherhadhelpedfoundAmherstCollege.Therefore,
herparentsmadesure.Shewaseducatedinexcellentschoolsa8
AmherstAcademy(1834—1847)andMountHolyokeFemale
Seminaryf184J7—1848).
Dickinson'sgreatestoutpouringofpoemsoccurredinthe
early1860s.However,sherefusedtoreviseherpoemstofitthe
standardsofpublishemandtooknointerestinhavingthempub.
1ished;infactsheonlyhadsevenpoemspublishedduringher
lifetime.Afterherdeathinl886.hersisterfoundnearlyl800
poemsthatshehadwritten.Manyofthepoemswerefinallypub-
lishedinthel890s.andEmilyDickinsonwasdiscoveredbythe
literaryworldinthel920s.
EmilyDickinsonshowedthefactthatonecouldtakeasin.
glehouseholdandallinactivelife,andmakeenchantingpoetry
outofit.Herpoetryisreadtodaythroughoutmuchoftheworld.
ThereisnodoubtthatthesolitaryMissDickinsonofAmherst。
Massachusetts,isageniuswriterofgreatpowerandbeauty.
2.2LovemeetsitsWaterloo
Dickinson,semotionalliferemainsmysterious.despitemuch
speculationaboutapossibledisappointedloveaffair.Throughout
herlire.sheseldomleftherhouseandvisitorswerescal℃e.The
peoplewithwhomshedidcomeincontact.however,hadan
enormousimpactonherthoughtsandpoetry.TheReverend
CharlesWadsworth,amarriedmiddle—agedminister。whomshe
metonatriptoPhiladelphia,particularlystirredher.Itappears
thatshefeltaffectionforhimthathecouldnotreturn.Heleftfor
SanFranciscoshortlyafteravisittoherhomeinl862.andsome
criticsbelievehisdeparturegaverisetotheheartsickflow0f
versefromDickinsonintheyearsthatfofiowed.Whileitiscer-
tainthathewasallimportantfigureinherlire.itisnotcertain
thatthiswasinthecapacityofromanticlove—shecalledhim”
myclosestearthlyfriend.”0thercandidateisSamuelBowhs.an
editoroftheSprin如eldRepublican,towhomsheaddressed
manypoems.In1861一1862shehadacrisis;itisnotknownif
sheevenfullyrecovered。andBowlesdisappointedherbytravel.
ingin1861toEurope.Hereturnedinautumn1862.Atthattime
Dickinsondidnotwanttomeethimorwritetohimanymore.
ThereisspeculationthatEmilyhadsomethingofa loveaffair
(throughletters)withJudgeOtisP.brdoftheMassachusetts
SupremeCourt.startinginabout1870.Hediedin1884.and
thereafterDickinsonherselfseemedtogrowobsessedwithdeath.
EmilyDickinsonsewedthepagesofherpoemstogether埘tll
threadandputthemaway.Shealsoseemstohavesewedherlife
togetherandputitaway,too.Stepbystep,shewithdrewfromthe
world.Asshegrewolder,shesawfewervisitors.andrarelyleft
herhouse.ThetimeofEmily'swithdrewwasalsothetimeofthe
AmericanCivilWar.TheeventsthatchangedAmerica'shistory,
however,didnottouchher.Nomarriagemaybetheadvantageto
herpoemsbecausepoetsarealwaysrefinedandsensitive.Emily
Dickinsondiedin1886,attheageoffifty面ve,completely1111-
knowntotheworld.
收稿日期:2011-08-05修回日期:2011-08-28
作者简介:陈晗凝(1984一),女,河南三门峡人,黄河水利职业技术学院助教,文学学士,主要从事英语教育教学与研究工作。
226■翅滗戮戮颟麟黧辫粼麟j 奉拦日责任稿辑:榜菲荸
万方数据
2011年10月
2.3SollI,sSanct岫ry:fam姐y,强tll陀,粕d础孵try
Thi8Americanlyricalpoet,aI_;ecluse'nicknamed山e’‘nun
ofAmhe培^only8evenofherl800poemswerepublishedduf.
ingherlif.etime,fiveofthemintheSprin曲eldRepublican.
Dickinsonneverma而ed.Shewithdrewfbmsocialcont习lct明d
devotedherselfinsecretinw五“ng.Herf南quentuseofd∞he8,
spomdiccapitalizationofnouns,offdlymes,bmkenmeter'un.
conventionalmetapho鸭havecontributedherreputationasoneof
themostinnovativepoetof19tllcenturyAmedcanlitemture.
Amhersth∞becomeapil卵mageforherf抽sandaspiringlyri-
cistsandherpoetryhasinspiredfeministwriters.
Dickinson,slackofrhymeandre剐larmeter明dheru跎of
ellipsisandcompressionwereunimportant鹊Iong∞herpoetry
w髂encoumgedbyit.Herpoetryw踮theprecursortotllemod—
emspiritwiththeinfluenceoftmnscendentaJismnotpuri£ani8m.
HertreatIIlentofdeathandpmfoundmetaphysicaltendencie8
werepartofthesinguJarnature“hergenius.Emily勺simple
languagedmwsrichmeaningsf而mcommonwoms.Shepaid
minuteanentiontothings山atnobodye18enoticedintlleuni.
verse.Mavbeherpoemscancomfortherdeepheanthatw龉dis-
contentwiththeoutsideworld.andbecanleoneofhersanctu廿
iesf.orhersoul.
neeadiest一舳dshortest一咖ge“|mmaboutl858to1861)
involvedaqu鹬i—my8ticalapproach,characterizedbyherde印
yeamingforametaphysicalexperienceinwhichtheetemaJin
humanitvisunitedwiththedivineinnature.ShesawNatureasa
r}esourcethroughwhichonemightcometoknowtheDeity.This
w鹊aviewshecamebynaturally—thmughPuri协onhodoxy,
whiehhadtau小twh8tthePsalmisthad删tte玎:”Tbeheavens
declaretIlegloryofG0d,舳dthe6mamentproclaimshishandi.
work”.11}Ieunive墙e。createdandorde陀dbyGDd,renectedthe
divinemindandwiu.Humanbeingsmi曲tle姗ofGodnotoIlly
througIltlleWordofC0dbutals0throughtheBookofNature.
Herpoem8aboutt|lecvclesofmeseasons(binh—death—re.
birth)be8tiUus咖tehersymbolicview。Theyseemtopos“her
eonviction£hatifoneparticipalesinNature名”riluals’”thenone
mvbeabletoreadone,sowndestinvinthem.
Itw舶especia儿vinNature,sfo邢sthatshetriedtoread粕
鸽sumnceofimmortality.Theprincipleofrebirdland陀newaI
shewitnessedinNatureeachspringshe∞ughttoapplytoher
ownf.ateafkrdeath.Thisisherbests锄cnlary.
3Ikathmakesherbeautyete朋【al
3.1Not蛔r0fdeam
Urldoubtedly,Emily,sviewonliving锄ddeathaI℃infIu.
encedbvlotsofaspects.Herewewillstatet}Ireepointsofthem.
Firstisherfamilyback舯und.Herfatherisaminister,andher
hometown,Amherst,isat)rpiealtownt}Iatw躺deeplyifIfluenced
byPumlnism.Onherageof23,8hec砌eacms8Chades
Wadsworth,ama而edman,anditig8aidtIlatherdisappojnted
lovetothisclergymanresultedinherisolation.ThesewouIdim.
pactherviewonliving,death,andimmor【ality.Besideherfamily
鲫dreligion,EmilylivedIonelyforalongtime,iIlfkquenⅡywent
outofthehouse.andavoidedthenoiseoftheout8idewofld.At
theBametime,shethoughcdeathi8aninescapablething£hata
personmustface.InEmily,8deathpoems,thereisnotails,∞
sadness;alli8natumlcommonandBimple.Deathisa heavy—
heartedtopicbuttoElllilyDickinson,dea山i8a”sweetsleep”
本拦日夤任■辑:餐蕃薯
besideates£loi彻ortality.SDmetimes,itisaplay.DiH.erent
fbmthemo陀popul盯viewofdeathbeingbmtalandcmel,
Dickins叩make8death∞emp鹊siveandeasy.Hermostdis—
cussedclassicpoem”Bec绷眈ICoIddNotStopForDeatht|c蚰
pmVeit.
3.2T瑚n鼬蜘dingd明恤
Theallestionofmentalcessationatdeathwa8蚰overtoneof
眦nyofherpoe吣.Theimminentcontingencyofdeath,astIle
ultimatesource“awe,wonder,andendlessquestions,waslife,s
mostf缸cinatingf醯tufestoDickin80n.Dickinsoncbalkngesthe
mysteriesofdeathwithevasion,despair'curi08ityorhopeinher
poetryinajoumeyordreamandonthedividinglineoflife肋d
deatll.0necanseethatDickinsonI)ointstodeathasthefinal
inevitablechan卵.TheintensitvofDickinson,scuriosityabout
dyingandherenthusi鹊mtoJeamoftIledying,sexperienceat
mepointofmortalityi8evidentinherpoetry.She8tudiedt}leef.
fDrtof£hedeath,sdisappe姗nce,onthelivingwodd;inahope
toconjecturesomethingaboutthenewIifetheyareexperiencing
如rdea山.Fromthisviewofpoint,EIIlilyDickinsonh舾cmssed
0、rerthedeatll.
4TheIIltermgationofImmortaIi坶
EmilyDickin∞nwasmodeminthatshedaIedtoquestion”
tllefhithofherf乱her7s”——theratllercomDlacenton}lodoxⅡadi-
tionof山eisolated.conservativecommunitvofAmherst'Mas—
sachu8etts,whereshespentherdavs(1830—1886).Shewasun-
abJetoemulateherneigIIbors7easyacceptanceofthepat£em8of
tmditionalfaithinheritedf南mtheirPll^tanfbr℃bear售even
thoughshewasmarkedbvtheChristianethic,theBiblicaltIadi-
tionspr℃achedfiDmthepulpit,tlIecadencesofthehymnssung
inchurch,andthePlJ—tanhabitofself—scmtinv.Thesethin只s
notunexpectedlybecaIIlepartofthef.ab—cofherpoeny.
Whati8surprisingist}leintensitvofthe”rebeUion”which
pouredfbmthisfhiI,reclusiyewo眦n,spen.Shedidno£,how-
ever'completelycastasidethetenet8offaithacceptedbyher
familv明dcommunity.Herrevoltw聃subtlerandmorecomplex,
coloredas“w8sbvdoubtaboutherowndoubt.Ifsheques—
tionedthenattlreofGDd,shealsoquestionedtIlelegitimacy0f
herskeptici8m.IIlwdtingaboutfait}I,8hecouldbe,bytums,
pucki8h,irreverent.defiant’resentful,wry,蛐d anguished.
111∞ughoutt11ebody《herwork,somel,775recordedpoe脚;
8heappea惜t0betestingaVaIietyofstances.
4.1FatalislicImmon枷钾
Dickinson,sexpressiontllattheunderpinningsofherf出th
weremthertonerybeganappearinginherIette玛atage6fteen.A
letterpennedtoherfhendAbiaIlR00treco一8howpmfoundlv
di船omfitedshew聃bycommunitypressuretohavetlleconver.
sionexperiencewhichw船expectedin出erevivalat墙sphere
preVailinginAmherstatthetime(1845).”1wasalmostpe璐uad·
edtobecomeaChris£ian:”shew—tes,butthenadmitstoback.
sliding.”Onebyonemyoldhabitsretumedtomeandl cared
les8forreligionthaneVer.⋯I锄continuallypuniIlgofrbecom·
ingaChristian.Evilvoiceslispinmvear.“
Theseearlyexperiencesestablishedapattem,whichdoIIli.
natedDickinson,sthinkin异andartfortherestofherlife.She
couldnotembmceconventional
c嬲to仔itsinnuence.It6uedA
reli西on,butneithercouldshe
poem8,dict8tingt|1efomland
(下转第231页)
万方数据
2011年10月
渴求,同时也给全书定下了基调。
在《哈利波特与火焰杯》中,不光是三位主角在经历青春
期的困惑,实际上.不论十四岁还是四十岁,书中笨拙地探索
爱情的角色比比皆是。维克多·克鲁姆是代
德姆斯特朗参加
i强争霸赛冠军,同时也是保加利亚魁地奇国家队的明星球
员,为了鼓起勇气和赫敏说话.他花了半年时间假装在图书馆
学习;禁林的看守巨人海格,为了追求布斯巴顿的女校长麦克
西姆女士,十几年来第一次整理了自己的头发;罗恩在得知赫
敏要与克鲁姆一同参加圣诞舞会后,感到无比的嫉妒,为了安
慰自己也为了报复赫敏,一有机会他便在公共场合亲吻拉文
德·布朗:这么做也让赫敏同样受伤与嫉妒。
很可惜,书中所有对爱情的探索与追求都以失败告终。哈
利暗恋的女生张秋开始和他的竞争对手塞德里克约会:赫敏
意识到自己和维克多共同语言太少.这段感情以维克多在学
期末返同保加利亚而结束:罗恩和拉文德最终恢复理智,发现
两人没有任何感情基础.不但做不成恋人,连做朋友都不合
适:海格冈为暗示说麦克西姆女士有巨人血统(她竭力隐瞒的
事实).令她恼羞成怒,两人刚刚萌生的恋情又退回到友情的
状态:罗恩和赫敏虽然彼此有意,却无法表明心意更进一步,
相反。两人在全书中从头到尾争执不休。
看到这里,再联想到媚娃的角色以及她们在本书中的早
早登场。读者们会意识到媚娃不但是保加利亚魁地奇国家队
的象征,也是本书主题的象征原型,她们代表的是对感情求之
而不得的折磨.是伴随恋情起伏的令人心碎的痛苦。当主题以
这种形象的方式呈现出来时.罗琳的读者们。无论年长或年
幼.都能很好的感受到作者想要表达的青春期的萌动与困惑。
(上接第227页)
rhythmoftheverses,providingherwithavocabulary,furnishing
herwithimagery,andgivingherapointofview.Sheexplored
thePuritanethosfromheruniqueperspective,daringtoquestion
thefundamentaltenetsherfamily,friendsandcommunityem-
bracedwithoutthedoubtsheherselffelt.Withtemerityremark—
ableforaretiringNewEnglandmaidofherday,Dickinson
forgedherwaythroughathicketofhumanandtheologicalques-
tionsaboutIire,death,God,immortality,lore,andnature.
5Conclusion
EmilyDickinsononcewrote.aftershecametoknowthelife
afterdeathliespermanentlyinthebeloved'smemory.thatthe
onewhobestowedeternityonhershewouldsendmemoryinre·
turn.Indeed.onemightsaythatEmilyDickinsonembarkedupon
alifelongiourney,whichWaShersearchforanewcreed,anew”
faith”ofsomesorttotaketheplaceoftheConnecticutValley
Congregationalism。whichshecouldnotaccept.Therecordofher
search--herpoetry--invites.perhapsevencompels,themodeNl
readertoabandonhisorherownreligiouscomplacencyandCOU-
fronttheessentialquestion:HOWfirmismyownhith?Would
ouranswerechothelinesDickinsonwrotein1877:”Howbritile
奉拦日寅任壕辑:夤菲荸
而那些有过暗恋经历的读者更是能体会到当你坠人爱河时,
就好比中了媚娃的魔咒一般无可自拔。罗琳运用媚娃作为象
征原型有效地构成了“召唤结构”,具有想象力的读者通过对
作品的阅读和阐释。意识到媚娃代表着青春期特有的尴尬、害
羞和荷尔蒙失调,同时也预示着书中一段段失败的恋情,从而
实现了对作品意义的重新建构。
3结束语
毫无疑问。哈利波特系列小说是一部成功的作品;作者罗
琳原本期待它是一部儿童作品.然而它也让众多成年人如痴
如醉。原冈就在于书中神话的成功运用触动了读者内心,进而
引发了强烈的共鸣,罗琳也得以向读者传达自己的观点与看
法。在下一步的研究中,可以更为深入的分析罗琳是如何对神
话原型进行调整和改动.在挑战读者的阅读期望,给读者带来
一次次的意外和惊喜的同时.用古老的神话传达现代社会价
值观念。
参考文献:
【l】Iser,Wolfgang.111eActofReading[M].Baltimore:JohnsHopkins
UniversityPress,1978.
【2】荣格.论分析心理学与诗歌的关g[M1.冯川,苏克,译,北京:改
革出版社。1997.
【3】荣格.心理学与文学【M】.冯川,苏克,译,北京:改革出版社,
1997.
【4】张中载.二十世纪西方文论选读【M】.上海:外语教学与研究
出版社。2002.
础thePiers/OnwhichourFaithdothtread?”
HadherPuritanforefathersknownofherspiritualstruggle,
theywouldprobablyhaveassuredherthatherveryyearningfor
knowledgeofGodandhersearchforassuranceofiannortality
weresignsthatGod"Ssavinggracehadalreadybeenbestowed.
Perhapsinherqueskthen.thereisalessonforthemodernread-
erwhohasaskedmanyofthesamequestionswhichDickinson
wrestledwith.Intheend.perhapswemustconfrontwhatise8.
sentiallyamatterofdeathandimmortality,asexpressedbythe
poetinanearlypoem:”Ishallknowwhy--whenTimeisover-”
参考文献:
【l】盛宁,艾米莉·狄金森的自然情怀【J].外国文学评论,2005(4).
【2】刘晓辉,艾米莉·狄金森:谜一样的诗【J】.四川外语学院学报,
2001(5).
【3】李宣夔,常耀信.美国文学选读IM].天津:南开大学出版社,
1995.
【4】EmilyDickinson.111ePoemsofEmilyDickinson【M】.3vols.
Cambridge.MA:BelknapPressofHarvardUniv.Press,1955.
[5】PerryMilDer.E盯andintotheWilderness【MI.NewYork:Harper
andRow.1964.
万方数据
Emily Dickinson:An Interrogator of Death and Immortality
作者: CHEN Han-ning
作者单位: 黄河水利职业技术学院
刊名: 海外英语(中旬刊)
英文刊名: Overseas English
年,卷(期): 2011(10)
参考文献(5条)
1.Perry Miller Errand into the Wilderness 1964
2.Emily Dickinson The Poems of Emily Dickinson 1955
3.李宣夔;常耀信 美国文学选读 1995
4.刘晓辉 艾米莉·狄金森:谜一样的诗 2001(05)
5.盛宁 艾米莉·狄金森的自然情怀 2005(04)
本文读者也读过(2条)
1. 杨爽 Analysis on Death Poems of Emily Dickinson[期刊论文]-英语广场(下旬刊 )2012(7)
2. 王海莺 An Analysis of Dickinson' s poem[期刊论文]-青春岁月2011(20)
本文链接:http://d.g.wanfangdata.com.cn/Periodical_hwyy-z201110294.aspx
本文档为【Emily Dickinson_An Interrogator of Death and Immortality】,请使用软件OFFICE或WPS软件打开。作品中的文字与图均可以修改和编辑,
图片更改请在作品中右键图片并更换,文字修改请直接点击文字进行修改,也可以新增和删除文档中的内容。
[版权声明] 本站所有资料为用户分享产生,若发现您的权利被侵害,请联系客服邮件isharekefu@iask.cn,我们尽快处理。
本作品所展示的图片、画像、字体、音乐的版权可能需版权方额外授权,请谨慎使用。
网站提供的党政主题相关内容(国旗、国徽、党徽..)目的在于配合国家政策宣传,仅限个人学习分享使用,禁止用于任何广告和商用目的。