（英语语言文学专业论文）重建生态和谐——生态批评视角下的西尔科《仪式》.pdf

descriptive chinese abstract i 摘 要 摘 要 莱斯利马蒙西尔科(leslie marmon silko)是在美国印第安文艺复兴中脱颖而出 的一位女作家，曾多次荣获美国权威性文学奖项。其代表作仪式自从 1977 年出版 后就凭借其丰富的文化底蕴和精妙的叙事技巧而备受关注。 批评家们运用不同理论从不 同视角对这部小说进行了广泛的研究，然而对作品的深刻生态主题少有提及。本文在前 人研究的基础上，运用生态批评理论对小说主人公塔尤(tayo)身份缺失的根源及自我寻 找之旅进行剖析，从而揭示印第安人和谐的生态思想。 经历过二战的塔尤在白人医院无法医治自己的病痛后回到拉古纳(laguna)部落。和 许多夹缝中求生存的少数族裔一样，他遭受的不是身体上的伤病而是失去自我的痛苦， 因此不断徘徊在噩梦与过去的记忆中。 母亲的遗弃及白人主流社会的歧视让塔尤失去归 属感； 白人对动物肆意毁灭与印第安人视万物为兄弟的两种完全不同的态度使塔尤陷入 矛盾；白人视土地为财产的疯狂掠夺令塔尤感到无奈；因诅咒自然而引来的常年干旱使 塔尤无比自责。人与人、人与动物、人与土地及人与自然之间的种种不和谐导致了塔尤 失去自我的痛苦。在两位药师(medicine man)的帮助下，经过一系列印第安人所特有的 仪式，塔尤认识到印第安世界与白人世界的种种差异，重新找到人与人之间的和谐；对 动物由毁灭到尊重；与大地由分离到融合；对自然由诅咒到敬畏,从而最终找回自我。 因此，与其说塔尤回归家园，不如说他回归自然，在重新建立人与人、人与动物、 人与土地及人与自然之间的和谐中找到自我。 塔尤的这一回归路向我们展示了印第安人 崇敬自然，并与自然万物共存互生，相通相融，和谐共处的自然观。 关键词：西尔科； 仪式 ；生态批评；印第安人；自然；和谐 english abstract ii abstract leslie marmon silko is an outstanding native american woman writer. the new york times book review proclaimed her as the most accomplished native american writer of her generation. her novel ceremony aroused many critics attention because of its deep native american culture and excellent narrative techniques. there appeared a variety of essays from different theoretical and critical approaches, including formalist, historical, cultural, semiotic, ecofeminist, and ethical, to name some of them. yet up to now, few critical studies have been devoted to discovering the relationship between native americans and nature. however, this issue is one of the most important themes of this novel. this thesis will explore native americans attitude towards nature by analyzing the protagonist, tayos process of recovering himself from ecocritical perspective. after surviving horrifying experiences in world war , and after an extended stay in a veterans administration mental ward, tayo, a young half-breed, returns to the laguna pueblo in new mexico. alienated from his culture and family as well as the white world, tayo is troubled by paralysis of memory, nightmares and fragmentation of reality. however, in contrast to the white doctors inability to cure him, several native americans joint efforts succeed in helping him break away from insanity and embrace a spiritual return to the laguna pueblo culture. an old medicine man called betonie takes tayo through a ceremony designed to cure him. finally, tayo finds his identity and live in harmony with the people and the nature. it is true that this recovery to some degree is fulfilled by going back home and keeping his own cultural tradition. however, what plays the most important role during the recovery is his relationship with the nature. from disharmony to harmony, he finds himself and the whole tribe. hence, tayos journey of searching for himself shows us native americans harmonious attitude towards nature. it is not exaggerated to see and present native americans as models of an ecological attitude, sometimes even as born conservationists, or as patron saints of a close relationship between man and his environment. key words: silko; ceremony; ecocriticism; indians; nature; harmony 湘潭大学湘潭大学 学位论文原创性声明学位论文原创性声明 本人郑重声明：所呈交的论文是本人在导师的指导下独立进行研究所取得的 研究成果。除了文中特别加以标注引用的内容外，本论文不包含任何其他个人或 集体已经发表或撰写的成果作品。对本文的研究做出重要贡献的个人和集体，均 已在文中以明确方式标明。本人完全意识到本声明的法律后果由本人承担。 作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解学校有关保留、使用学位论文的规定，同意学校保 留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和电子版，允许论文被查阅和借 阅。本人授权湘潭大学可以将本学位论文的全部或部分内容编入有关数据库进行 检索，可以采用影印、缩印或扫描等复制手段保存和汇编本学位论文。 涉密论文按学校规定处理。 作者签名： 日期： 年 月 日 导师签名： 日期： 年 月 日 introduction 1 introduction the native voice in american literature is indispensable. there is no true literary history of the united states without it. n.scott momaday 0.1 brief introduction of native americans and their literature “native americans? arent they vanishing?” i was asked the question many times when talking about my thesis with classmates and friends. in fact, id like to tell them without hesitation, “definitely no”. thousands, even millions of years before christopher columbus actually stumbled on the continent, the native american people had been living there. they were overall a peaceful people who enjoyed family, prayer, and creativity. an appreciation and respect for nature was of the utmost importance. once the europeans arrived in america, things became much different. at first, the native american people found these new arrivals to be intriguing and interesting and they almost worshipped these fair skin people. as time went by, it became apparent that the europeans were greedy and cruel as well as materialistic. soon the native american people began to despise the “white man”. not only did these new settlers bring greed but they also brought many diseases that the native americans had never faced before. these new diseases affected the native americans and killed many of them since they had no resistance. as time went by, the plight of the native americans grew worse and worse. they were forced off their lands and pushed further and further west with many promises being made but never kept. there were also many conflicts that ended up with massacres or wars, in which many native americans lost their lives. as joy porter notes in her historical essay, the native american population in 1492 ranged over ten million. by 1900, diseases and military encounters had reduced the population to approximately 250,000. soon the native american people were only left with some small indian reservations. beginning in 2002, the front page of every issue of indian country today featured two small maps of the united states: one labeled “indian country-1492” is entirely red; the other labeled “indian country today” is dotted with small red spots representing remaining indian land. it was a vast difference from when the continent had been their home. in her essay “where i ought to be”, erdrich, one of the most famous native american writers, offers dramatic hypothetical comparisons for the introduction 2 destructive, near extinction phenomenon: “many native american cultures were annihilated more thoroughly than even a nuclear disaster might destroy ours.” (qtd. in chavkin 23). currently there are probably over three hundred reservations in the united states. they are governed by the united state department of the interior through a special indian affairs office. however, on the indian reservations, they have their own tribal council to handle the daily governmental rules. well, it is true that ever since native americans were invaded by european military men, traders, exploiters and settlers, they have been in pain. however, they are not vanishing completely, but survive with struggles, keeping there own tradition. nowadays, more and more people have realized the importance of knowing native americans, this special group of people. hence, issues on native americans have become very hot. critics try to find the relationship between native american culture and the mainstream literature by learning their complex culture, understanding their literary works, since “the tradition is so deeply rooted in the landscape of the new world that it can not be denied. and it is so distinguished an expression that we can not afford to lose it” (elliot 14). empowerment movements, native cultural awakening, and a strong interest in native americans in the turbulent twentieth century also provided the impetus for what kenneth lincoln has called the native american renaissance, the beginning of which is usually regarded as the pulitzer prize awarding of n. scott momadays house made of dawn in 1969. in another word, there appeared a flowering of a dynamic new literature written by native americans, who began to “speak”. skimming through the contents of main books on the literary history of the united states or some anthologies of american literature that have been published in recent years at home and abroad, you will notice a common phenomenon that more and more ethnic writers are included, such as african american writers, chinese american writers. native american literature is also one of the most important branches that can not be ignored. columbia literary history of the united states points out: “the native voice in american literature is indispensable. there is no true literary history of the united states without it” (elliot 6). in china, newly edited literary history of the united states composed by prof. zhang chong also clearly shows the change. in a word, native american literature has become a voice that needs to be heard. the research on it is necessary. in momadays words, “the need is real and apparent” (elliot 6). introduction 3 0.2 silko and her novel, ceremony leslie marmon silko appeared on the american literary scene in 1977 with the publication of her brilliant first novel, ceremony. on may 19, 1981, the new york times announced that the macarthur foundation had selected twenty-one “exceptionally talented individuals” to receive five-year awards of support. contemporary native american novelist leslie marmon silko was just one of them. she was born in 1948 and grew up in the laguna pueblo reservation in northern new mexico. despite her mixed ancestrypart laguna, part mexican, and part white, silko considers herself laguna. as she puts it, “i grew up at laguna pueblo, i am of mixed breed ancestry, but what i know is laguna” (velie 106). after briefly attending law school, she decided to pursue a literary career, publishing her first book, laguna woman, a book of poems in 1974. she also published numerous short stories, many of which were anthologized in the 1974 collection, the man to send rain clouds: contemporary stories by american indians. hence, silko was really a rising star of the native american renaissance, ushered by n.scott momadays 1968 pulitzer prize-winning novel house made of dawn. silkos subsequent works include her autobiographical mixed-genre collection, storyteller (1981); the apocalyptic epic, almanac of the dead (1991), described by many critics as one of the most important novels of the twentieth century; sacred water (1993), a volume of poems and photographs that silko originally made by hand; her collected essays, yellow woman and a beauty of the spirit (1996); and the lyrical historical novel, gardens in the dunes (1999). among her renowned works, ceremony is the most talked-about one and has been widely recognized for its literary achievement. in an influential article in the new york times book review, frank macshane proclaimed silko like this: “without question leslie silko is the most accomplished native american writer of her generationher novel is one of the most realized works of fiction devoted to indian life that has been written in this country, and it is a splendid achievement” (chavkin 4). she won such high praise due to her excellent novel ceremony. as is known that the native american renaissance has brought out a lot of excellent writers and works, such as n.scott momadays house made of dawn (1968), james welchs winter in the blood (1974), louise erdrichs love medicine (1993). “but of the numerous works of the native american renaissance published between 1968 and the present, it is leslie marmon silkos ceremony that has received the greatest critical acclaim” (chavkin 3). frank macshane praised it for “its unique blending of the european narrative tradition with native american storytelling”. the boston globe commented like this: “the novel is introduction 4 very deliberately a ceremony itselfdemanding but confident and beautifully written”. the washington post book world acclaimed it as “an exceptional novela cause for celebration” (chavkin 4). since its publication in 1977, more than a half million copies of the book have been sold, and it is now one of the most frequently taught contemporary novels in higher education. the title “ceremony” goes well beyond the conventional definition as “a special formal, solemn, and long-established action or set of actions used for marking an important social or religious event”(proctor 156). in indian tribes, ceremonies are mostly endowed with special cultural significance. paula gunn allen states: “ceremony is to fuse the individual with the fellows, the community of people, and larger communal group with worlds; the person sheds the isolated, individual personality and is restored to conscious harmony with the universe” (allen 146). scott b.vickers complements paula gunn allens explanation by pointing out that “the ceremony of the title is the divine psychic process of the redemption of silkos protagonist, tayo, another indian returned home from the war to face his own despoliation and dissipation” (vickers 135). likewise, silko herself defines the word “ceremony” in an interview: for me, its the term we use when we refer to certain religious activities. i first heard it connected with the activities which the navajos participated in order to cure, healing medicinal sorts of activities. and the navajos would say in english, “old so and so have been sick, so theyre giving him a ceremony” or “theyre having a ceremony for him.” and so thats where i first heard the term, and thats how it will be used in english. basically it refers to those kinds of activities. it can also refer to other sorts of activities, not necessarily healing ceremonies, but celebrations or giving thanks, those sorts of ceremonies. (arnold 34) the novel is set in the laguna pueblo reservation that consists of six villages, namely, laguna, paguate, encinal, mesita, seuma, and paraje. it covers nearly five hundred thousand acres, with laguna as the political center. among the nineteen pueblo tribes, laguna pueblo is one of the few keresan-speaking pueblo left and ranks the largest tribe with about 8,000 members, half of whom reside in the reservation. in an interview with thomas irmer, leslie silko describes: “in the pueblo tribe the people are communal people, it is an egalitarian communal society” (arnold 147). ceremony is the story of a mixed-blood laguna named tayo who returns from death to life. after surviving horrifying experiences in the philippines in world war , and after an introduction 5 extended stay in a veterans administration mental ward, tayo, a young half-breed, returns to the laguna pueblo in new mexico. alienated from his culture and family as well as the white world, tayo is troubled by paralysis of memory, nightmares and fragmentation of reality. however, in contrast to the white doctors inability to cure him, several native americans joint efforts succeed in helping him break away from insanity and embrace a spiritual return to the laguna pueblo culture. an old medicine man called betonie takes tayo through a ceremony designed to cure him. finally, tayo finds his identity and live in harmony with the people and the nature. 0.3 literature review since the arrival of post-modern theory, critics have been paying more and more attention to minority groups. hence, native american literature has become one of the hottest issues for critics, especially in america. since 1969, the study of native american literature has progressed from invisible to marginal to expected status. to promote study, criticism, and written literatures of native americans, a special organization named asail (association for the study of american indian literatures) was founded in 1972. it is an allied organization of the modern language association. it has more than 400 members, many of whom are actively involved in the work of the organization. there is an annual asail meeting held during the mla convention. during the past years, asail has sponsored discussion panels, workshops, and readings which have attracted not only american indian scholars and writers, but also a number of non-native scholars as well. asail has two publications: sail (studies in american indian literatures) and asail notes. sail is published quarterly, which is the only scholarly journal in the united states that focuses exclusively on american indian literature. the journal publishes reviews, interviews, bibliographies, creative works, and scholarly, critical and theoretical articles on any aspect of native american literature, including traditional oral material in dual-language format or translation, written works, and live and media performances of verbal art. besides, there are some other academic publications, such as the american indian culture and research journal; american indian quarterly; melus journal (multi-ethnic literatures of the united states). meanwhile, many books on native american literature such as allan r. velies four american indian literary masters (1982) have been published. ceremony was so important and widespread that it soon aroused many critics attention. only a few months after its publication and just as native american literature was beginning to gain acceptance in english departments, ceremony became a key text for many scholars. introduction 6 less than a year after ceremonys publication, charles a. larsons american indian fiction (1978), the first book-length study of fiction by native american appeared. larson devoted a section of his book to ceremony when talking about the theme of biculturalism in the novel. less than six years after ceremonys publication, its canonical place in the scholarship was firmly established by chapter-length studies in alan r. velies four american indian literary masters. he found correspondences between ceremony and the grail legend. the two stories have the same motif: when a man falls ill, his land becomes afflicted by drought. when he is cured by ritual, his land blooms again. there also appeared a variety of essays from different theoretical and critica