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An Analysis of Alienation in >The New York Trilogy< [《纽约三部曲》中的异化主题分析], Master thesis, English Language and Literature, Guangxi Normal University, Guilin, Guangxi China 2012 [Application of Fromm's theories to art].

  • 保罗•奥斯特(Paul Auster,1947-)是美国当代最勇于创新的小说家之一。奥斯特在作品中对后现代社会生存危机的揭露以及对其出路的思考和探求,赋予了他当代美国小说家所罕有的哲学深度,被称为>美国当代最能给人们以智性启迪的小说家<。本论文选择奥斯特的成名作《纽约三部曲》(《玻璃城》、《幽灵》和《锁闭的房间》)作为研究对象,探讨《三部曲》如何以一系列孤独的守望者形象深刻地描摹二十世纪中后期以纽约为代表的城市虚无精神和现代都市人孤独、迷失、绝望的异化生活状态。本论文运用美国当代著名精神分析学家、西方马克思主义法兰克福学派的重要代表人埃里希•弗洛姆的相关异化理论探讨奥斯特在《三部曲》中反映的人与社会和人与人的异化。文章主要分为四个部分:第一部分介绍奥斯特本人及其文学成就,简述《三部曲》的主要内容及其国内外文学评论,本论文的理论基础和结构。第二部分分别从社会空间、生产与消费三个领域揭露无孔不入的社会异化现象。一为社会空间,主要从三部曲中的外部空间走向内部空间,如,城市、房间、门、窗等,透视现代人的隔离与孤独;再以弗洛姆的人类生存的关联性理论为衔接点,从隔离转到作为人类基本需求之一关联性的施虐与被虐的异化;二为生产领域中弗洛姆称之为人类生命力的生产力异化,如政府机构职能的扭曲、侦探能力和作家创作力的退化与丧失;三为人们的消费异化。消费异化包括补偿性消费和被动性消费。《玻璃城》中奎恩通过疯狂的补偿性消费写作来证实自我及存在,但这种企图留下的只是空虚和自我迷失;而当人们在休闲活动时感受不到快乐或感受到的只是消极的快乐时便是被动性消费。奎恩在他最喜欢的休闲活动散步中,他的身体机械化,唯一感受就是自我的迷失;此外,在《锁闭的房间》里无名叙述者的奢侈、腐化的生活使其陷入迷失和无望的极度痛苦之中。第三部分分别从家庭成员、侦探和朋友三方面揭露人与人的异化。《玻璃城》中家庭成员异化主要体现在老斯蒂尔曼对儿子彼得的父权统治和成人后的彼得受到妻子的无形掌控;侦探的异化体现在他们对工作的无能为力和无规则两方面,如《玻璃城》和《幽灵》中主人公奎恩和布鲁对其侦探工作的无力和发现现实与理想不符时的焦虑。朋友的异化体现在《锁闭的房间》里叙述者对范肖的友情从崇拜到憎恨扭曲的整个过程。总之,在纽约城这个资本主义社会的缩影里,人与人的关系变成了相互利用的关系,变成了物与物的关系,人与人之间失去了正常爱的情感,唯有疏远和冷漠。第四部分为结语。奥斯特对当今社会异化现象的真实揭露深刻而又全面,有助于人们对社会发展进行反思,有助于人们踏上追求自我的正确道路,从而不乏一定的现实意义。
  • Paul Auster (b. 1947) is one of the most innovative American contemporary writers. His acute insight into the crisis of the American postmodern society and meditation of its quests endow him rare philosophical depth, for which he is praised as one of the most intellectually stimulating fiction writers in America. The thesis takes The New York Trilogy (City of Glass, Ghosts and The Locked Room) as the study object, discussing how the work, with a series of watchmen as symbols, profoundly depicts the New York City and its people's alienated life, solitary, lost and hopeless, after the 1950s. Adopting American contemporary psychoanalyst and philosopher Erich Fromm's related alienation theory, the thesis analyzes the estrangement in the trilogy between man and society and between man and man. There are four chapters.– Chapter 1 introduces Paul Auster and his novel The New York Trilogy, followed by literary review of this trilogy and theoretical basis and structure of this thesis.– Chapter Two explores three manifestations of social space, production and consumption to illustrate social alienation all-pervasive. Alienation in social space at first takes outside and inside spaces such as city, room, door and widow, to penetrate modern people's isolation and solitude, then using Fromm's theory of one of people's basic needs relatedness to observe people's sadist and masochist alienation; next part of alienation involves production which is human being's distorted productivity, the life force Fromm calls, such as the abuse of government function, degradation and disability of people's detection and writer's creation; the third are two kinds of alienated consumption: one destructive compensatory consumption and the other passive consumption. In City of Glass Quinn intents to confirm his identity and existence by indulging himself into compensational consumptive writing, but the failure leaves him only sense of hollow and loss. The passive consumption embodies in people's leisure activity such as Quinn's walking without any active pleasure. While walking Quinn's body is mechanical, and what he feels is desperately helpless and lost; besides, in The Locked Room the narrator sinks with his wife into a luxurious and corrupt life, which leads them into loss and desperation.– Chapter 3 examines relations of authority in family in City of Glass, powerless and normless work in Ghosts, and an idol-like and distorted friendship in The Locked Room. The first part displays family alienation in farther and son relationship where little Peter is abused by powerful father Stillman and after grown up, he was also >tenderly protected< by his powerful wife. The second part is the alienation in work where both Quinn and Black's self-discipline can do nothing in their detection and when they cannot find out a reliable fact they are trapped in frustration and anxiety. The third part deals with the alienation in friendship between the narrator and Fanshawe. Thus in New York City, the epitome of capitalist society, relationship between man and man becomes utilization, a relation of objects, and there is little love but alienation and indifference.– Chapter 4 is the conclusion. Auster makes a deep and all-round exposure of today's social alienation, which helps people rethink their social life and development and also contributes to their further quests.

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Metadaten
Author:Huan Ren
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:Chinese
Year of first Publication:2012
Release Date:2014/01/28
Format:no copy existent / keine Kopie vorhanden
IdNo:Ren_Huan_2012
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Dissertations / Dissertationen
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Dissertations / Dissertationen
Licence (German):
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