The Escape and Pursuit of Freedom. >Play It As It Lays< Psychological Analysis [自由的逃避与追求 -《顺其自然》的心理学分析], Master thesis, English Language and Literature, Suzhou University, Suzhou, Jiangsu, China 2012 [Application of Fromm's theories to art] .

  • 琼•迪迪恩,20世纪60年代步入文坛。她在文学创作上成绩斐然,在美国当代文学中地位显赫,并在小说、非小说及剧本写作上都颇有成就。迪迪恩的代表作《顺其自然》以独特的笔触描述了美国六十年代的社会图景,对生活在其中的女主人公玛利亚的生存状况和心理状况做了细致和深入的刻画,因而成为美国当代社会一个缩影。小说着力于描写玛利亚的心理发展历程,展现了后现代社会中人们物质生活充裕却又极度不安和焦虑的现状。她游离于社会和自我的边缘,无力地思考和行动,最终导致了精神崩溃。本文以弗洛姆的社会心理学为文本分析的框架,以>自由<为核心,以全新的视角诠释玛利亚的心理形成诱因和发展过程,以期能揭示现代人所处的>自由<的困境,并对此提出可供参考的解决方法。本文第一章介绍了该小说的研究现状、弗洛姆的理论框架以及本论文的结构。第二章叙述了玛利亚生活的时代背景,指出社会对于其生活方式和思想的影响,以及她对自由的渴求。第三章用弗洛姆的三种逃避自由的方式来分析玛利亚身处消极的自由中如何摆脱精神上的无力和不安。第一种是通过屈从于权威来摆脱孤独感;第二种是通过破坏自我去毁灭外在世界以摆脱外在的威胁;第三种是通过机械的自动适应来克服自身的软弱无力感。但是,这三种方式并没有使玛利亚摆脱困境,获得自由。第四章从积极自由的角度来反观玛利亚的心理发展历程,论证相对于其他人而言,她是小说总唯一一个追求积极自由的人。弗洛姆认为积极的自由应该是自发地去爱和工作,玛利亚就是这么选择的,坚持按自己的方式去生活。第五章是结论部分,通过对玛利亚心理发展过程的分析,揭示了一个身处后现代社会的女性如何面对自由困境问题并追求内心的自由。
  • Joan Didion, entering the literary field in the1960's, has achieved great success in contemporary American Literature. Of Her works covers fiction with non-fiction and scriptwriting. Play It As it Lays depicts the social scenario and of America in the1960's and portrays especially the subsistent and psychological status of the female character Maria. It is for this reason that this novel becomes a symbol for the contemporary American society. This novel centers upon the process of Maria's psychological development, displaying the commonplace sense of people's insecurity and anxiety at that time, though they enjoy the abundant material pleasures. Living in the1960's, Maria takes on unconsciously all those features of that time, but only finds disappointment in the mechanism of how people think and behave. She feels more and more alienated and powerless in that world, which leads her to the midst of void.– In this thesis, the social-psychological theories by Erich Fromm are applied to analyze Maria's psychological development in the postmodern society. The theoretical framework, with >freedom< as its core conception, is intended to analyze the meaning of freedom to modern man as well as the reasons why people want to escape passive freedom and then point out the path to positive freedom. Maria's psychological status can be divided into two periods: the escape of passive freedom and the pursuit of positive freedom. Maria has experienced the disillusionment of the simulated Hollywood, wanting to escape the freedom that is gained through material pleasures and to pursue her individual freedom. The actions that Maria takes to escape the passive aspect of freedom almost end up with her self-destruction. For Maria, the three mechanisms of escape brought up by Fromm, namely, authoritarianism, destructiveness and automaton conformity, are all attempted by her unconsciously. However, by adopting these three escape mechanisms, Maria feels more isolated and anxious than ever. As a matter of fact, she doesn't want to perform as a part of this big machine called capitalism at the cost of losing herself. That's why she is defined by the society as a neurotic and ends up in neuropsychiatric hospital. Then Maria is on her way to freedom in a positive sense, which is realized through spontaneous love and work. The fact is that, in this novel, we only see the tendency and attempts of Maria's spontaneous activities as an individual self.– The spontaneity proposed by Fromm doesn't necessarily lead to any tangible results, but the willingness of individual to fully realize his true self. Through all the spontaneous activities mentioned above, Maria sets off on her way to freedom and salvation.

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Metadaten
Author:Chaoyan Chen
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:Chinese
Year of first Publication:2012
Release Date:2014/01/28
Format:no copy existent / keine Kopie vorhanden
IdNo:Chen_Chaoyan_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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