The search result changed since you submitted your search request. Documents might be displayed in a different sort order.
  • search hit 77 of 227
Back to Result List

Escapism in Iris Murdoch's Novel >The Sea, The Sea< [默多克小说《大海啊大海》中的逃避主义], Master thesis, English Language and Literature, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China 2012. [application of Fromm's theories to art]

  • 默多克是二战后英国杰出的小说家兼哲学家,其小说具有深厚的哲学底蕴和内涵。她通过小说传达自己的哲学和伦理观念,即善和无我。其主要代表作有获1978年布克奖的小说《大海啊大海》、《黑王子》、《断头》等。本文主要通过分析《大海啊大海》里人物的逃避爱、自由与现实的方式以及原因,说明逃避的根源与自然、文化、心理因素之间的关系,阐述存在主义哲学观点对作者的影响以及在作品中的体现,即人的存在、人对自由的选择和逃避本能。作者认为,逃避并不能改变人的困境,只有通过善和无我,人才能够真正看清现实,得到爱,实现自由。全文共分为四章,第一章主要分析小说中的人物逃避爱的方式和表现。本文认为自欺、嫉妒与羡慕、猜疑是人们获得爱的绊脚石。自欺不同于说谎,自欺从本质上是一种意识的统一,是意识对自己的谎言。嫉妒与羡慕不同,虽然二者都会产生恐惧、不安等情绪。羡慕指的是渴望拥有被嫉妒身上特有的品质或者物品,而嫉妒是担心已有之物被人夺走而产生的强烈情感。猜疑使人们之间的隔阂加深。第二章分析小说中主要人物逃避自由的方式和表现,主要为权威主义、破坏倾向和依恋。权威主义有两种实现方式,一是服从权威,二是将自己塑造成权威,而权威主义中最极端的是施虐和受虐。无论是将自己变成权威还是依附权威,都是为了逃避作为独立个体所需要承担的焦虑和绝对自由带来的虚无、无力感。存在主义心理分析学派认为爱生是人的第一潜能,而当环境极度恶劣,人的第一潜能受到严重抑制时,就会表现出破坏性。第三章分析小说中主要人物逃避现实的方式和表现。本文认为自私、错觉以及自我主义是妨碍人认清现实的障碍。自私的人受困于自我的牢笼,无法对自己、他人、外在世界有客观真实的认识,因为自我、私欲会使人的认知发生扭曲,无法对现实有客观、全面的了解。自私和错觉还会导致自我主义或者唯我,唯我论者只关注自己,忽略他人的存在和感受,只关注自己的内心世界,根据自己的意愿构建内在现实。第四章侧重于从自然、文化、心理等方面探讨逃避的根源,以及逃避的作用。逃避是人类的本能,是自然给予所有生物的自我保护机制。然而与其他生物相比,人类因其独特的认知和思考能力,还承担着存在带来的焦虑与恐惧,尤其是在宗教的影响日渐式微的时候,上帝和神的缺失意味着统一的价值观的缺失,现代人更面临着虚无主义的困扰。文化是人类在逃避自然过程中的产物,另一方面也促成并加剧了人类的逃避的本能。作为一种特殊的存在,人有多种需求,而需求受挫也会导致逃避。逃避如同安慰剂,能够给暂时缓解焦虑中,也给夹在本我和超我的双重压力下的自我一个喘息的空间。
  • As the most eminent novelist and philosopher after World War Two, Murdoch is known for the profound philosophical probe and connotations in her novel, which exhibits the traces of influence of great minds in literature and philosophy. She uses her novel as a vehicle to elucidate her philosophical ideas and morality, the essence of which is good and >unselfing<. Her most widely read masterpieces are >The Black Prince<, >A Severed Head<, and >The Sea, the Sea>, which won the Booker Prize in 1978. Enlightened by Fromm's Escape from Freedom, this thesis attempts to analyze the mechanisms major characters use to escape from love, freedom and reality and most importantly, to reveal the roots of escapism from the perspectives of nature, culture and psychology. It also unravels the influence of existentialism upon the author and the traces of influence in the novel, which reveal the novelist's concern over the existence of human beings, the choice of freedom and our escapist instinct. It contends that escapism could not help human being out of their predicaments, and that they could only break away the burden of existence and the pain as isolated beings by >unselfing<. Through unselfing, one could see the light of reality, obtain the warmth of love and enjoy free freedom. Altogether, the thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is devoted to revealing the mechanism applied by the major characters to escape from love, namely, bad faith, which is quite different from self-deception, envy and jealousy and distrust. Different from lying, bad faith is the deception of one own consciousness. More often than not, jealousy and envy are mistaken, since both of them can generate feelings such as fear and insecurity. While envy refers to the strong desire to acquire qualities or belongs of the envied, and jealousy suggests the intense emotion of losing what one already has. And distrust could only tear people apart.– Chapter Two reveals escapist tendency of the major characters in their attempt to escape from freedom, such as authoritarianism, destructiveness, attachment. There are two ways to achieve authoritarianism, one is to be submissive to the authority, the other is to turn oneself into an authority to apply structure and dictate people. The extreme case of authoritarianism is masochism and sadism. According to Fromm, a person tends to escape and get rid of the anguish of meaninglessness, powerfulness and the pain of existence either by submitting himself or herself to an authority or simply turn himself and herself into an authority. According to Existentialistic Psychoanalytical Characterology, biophilous is human being's primary instinct, while destructiveness is secondary. A person only resorts to destructiveness when his primary instinct is severely hindered and penned up by the hostile environment.– Chapter Three reveals the mechanism applied by the protagonist to escape from reality, with the attempt to elucidate the root of escapism. Selfish egotism, fantasy, and solipsism are the obstacles on one's pilgrim to reality. Fettered in the cage of self, a person is incapable to recognize his own self, others and the exterior world, since selfishness could distort one's awareness of the reality. More over, the combined effort of egotism and fantasy can also lead to solipsism. A person suffering from solipsism tends to neglect or overlook the needs or even the existence of others, and his or her only concern is himself or herself. Some solipsists even distort the reality according to their will.– In the last chapter, the root of escapism, in terms of nature and culture, and placebo effect are traced. Escapism is innate human nature, a mechanism provided by nature for self-preservation. Compared with other creatures, human being is constantly tortured and inflicted by the ability to think and recognition. With the absence of god, especially the decay and waning of religion, the absence of God or gods means the absence of fixed values, the modern men are faced with the torturing of nihilism. Culture is the product of human beings' encountering with nature, or to be more exact, the product to escape from hostile nature, which on the other hand, fosters and stimulates the instinct of human being to escape. In addition, as the most especial creature, human beings have varied needs with different levels, and frustration in such needs tends to lead to escapism. As an placebo, the act of escape soothe the anxious souls and provide a room for the tormented ego, which is constantly sandwiched between id and superego.

Export metadata

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar
Metadaten
Author:Huana Wang
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:Chinese
Year of first Publication:2012
Release Date:2015/12/14
Format:no copy existent / keine Kopie vorhanden
IdNo:Wang_Huana_2012
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Dissertations / Dissertationen
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Dissertations / Dissertationen
Licence (German):
Einverstanden ✔
Diese Webseite verwendet technisch erforderliche Session-Cookies. Durch die weitere Nutzung der Webseite stimmen Sie diesem zu. Unsere Datenschutzerklärung finden Sie hier.