A Study of >The Human Stain< from the Perspective of Fromm's Humanistic Theory (2012)[用弗洛姆人本主义解读《人性的污秽》], Master thesis, English Language and Literature, Henan University, Kaifeng, Henan, China 2012 [application of Fromm's theories to art].

  • 《人性的污秽》是当代美国作家菲利普·罗斯2000年的作品,是他继《美国牧歌》(1997)和《我嫁了一个共产党员》(1998)之后创作的著名>美国三部曲<的最后一部。该作品叙述了一个冒充美国白人以获取更好人生发展机会的大学教授科尔曼·希尔克的悲剧故事。这部小说结构精巧,思想深刻,颇受欢迎,获2001国际笔会/福克纳奖。2003年本小说被改编为同名电影,由安东尼·霍普金斯和妮可·基德曼领衔主演。国内外的文学评论家和学者从多个角度分析了小说《人性的污秽》,如主题分析、悲剧原型、文化批评、互文性、写作技巧等,而目前还很少有从生存境遇这个角度对其进行研究。小说的背景设置在雅典娜学院,生活于其中的人遭遇各种各样的生存困境,这实际上是整个美国社会的缩影,体现了罗斯对人类生存状态的关注。本论文尝试藉埃利希·弗洛姆(1900-1980)的人本主义理论分析小说《人性的污秽》中主要人物的生存境遇,探讨造成这种困境的原因并揭示当代人的拯救之路。论文除了引言和结论外分为三个部分。引言包括菲利普·罗斯的生平及文学成就、作品简介、文献综述以及本论文的研究意义,并且对弗洛姆的人本主义理论进行了简要介绍。弗洛姆指出,人的生存状况问题是自然界中独一无二的事。人性理论是他人本思想的出发点。飞速发展的资本主义使逃避自由和异化逐渐成为当代人特有的生活困境。而要摆脱这种困境,人只有通过创造性的爱。第一章具体分析了小说中主要人物的悲惨生存境遇。小说中人物的生存境遇具有典型性,即逃避自由和异化。他们追求的是一种纯粹为了摆脱束缚的自由,是一种消极的自由。随之而来的压力和负担使他们陷入痛苦挣扎之中。他们的生活看似美好充实,实则备受压抑,遭受精神异化的折磨。第二章主要从社会和个人两方面探讨造成人物悖论性生存困境的原因。人是社会的动物,不可能脱离社会而存在。在这部小说中,种族歧视、政治正确性、迫害精神以及越战影响等加深了人们的生存困境。而人类共同的生存状况产生了诸多矛盾,从而导致人们种种精神需要的产生。人们基本需要未满足或者满足的方式错误也会导致人们的生存困境。第三章探讨主要人物的拯救之路。死亡能够简化和净化一切事物,是生命自我超越的一种形式,因而在罗斯看来不失为一种最终的、彻底的拯救之路。科尔曼·希尔克和福尼雅·法利在川流不息的河水中结束生命,表达了罗斯对生命净化的渴望。与此同时,人与自然的和谐相处也可以帮助人得到精神救赎,莱斯特·法利在自然中重获内心的平静。除此之外,爱是拯救现代社会人们精神危机的最终方法。结论部分指出小说《人性的污秽》体现了罗斯对人性和人类命运的终极关怀,他坚信在物质社会中道德的价值并对当代人的救赎抱有信心,罗斯在这部小说中表达的深刻的人本主义思想深化了他对人性的思考,对现代人具有启发意义。
  • The Human Stain is the contribution of the contemporary American writer the Philip Roth in 2000 which completes his splendid trilogy that begins with American Pastoral (1997) and I married a Communist (1998). It is an exquisite and profound novel, which tells the tragic story of a college professor Coleman Silk, a black man who pretends to be white so as to pursue a better life development. The novel is well accepted and is awarded PEN / Faulkner Award in 2001. It is also adapted into a film of the same name in 2003 starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman. Critics and scholars abroad and at home have studied The Human Stain from various perspectives, such as theme analysis, cultural criticism, intertextual study, writing techniques and so on, but few have studied this novel from the perspective of man's living situations. The novel is set at Athena College, which in fact is the miniature of American society. People who live in this environment encounter with various living predicaments, which expresses Roth's concern with the living situations of human being. The thesis attempts to analyze The Human Stain from the perspective of Erich Fromm's humanistic theory. It aims to analyze the wretched living situations of the main characters in this novel, explore the causes for their living plights and search the salvations of modern man. The paper falls into three sections apart from introduction and conclusion.– Introduction gives a general introduction to Philip Roth and his literary accomplishments, The Human Stain, literature review and the significance of this thesis.– Then, Fromm's humanistic theory is presented in brief. According to Fromm, the living situation of human being is a unique matter in nature. He takes human nature as the starting point of his humanism. With the rapid development of capitalism, escape from freedom and alienation become the typical living predicaments of modern people. Moreover, only through creative love can man find a way out of the predicaments.– Chapter One provides a detailed analysis for the wretched living situations of the main characters in this novel, namely escape from freedom and alienation, which are very typical. The freedom they pursue is negative freedom, which means to gain freedom only by getting rid of external bondage without a correct life orientation. The accompanying pressure and burden bring them lots of sufferings. Their life turns out to be perfect and prosperous on the surface, but to the core, it is oppressing. They have to suffer from mental alienation.– Chapter Two comes up with the causes for the paradoxical living situations from social and personal aspects. Man is social animal and cannot exist without the social environment. In this novel, racial discrimination, political correctness, persecuting spirit and the impact of the Vietnam War deepen the degree of man's predicaments. At the same time, various conflicts come into being due to the common living situation of human being, which lead to different psychological needs of people. People would suffer a lot if their basic needs are not satisfied or are satisfied through wrong way.– Chapter Three discusses the salvations of the main characters. According to Roth, death is a thorough and ultimate salvation for the main characters in this novel because it simplifies everything, purifies everything, and is also a form of self-transcendence. Coleman Silk and Faunia Farley end their lives in flowing river, which shows Roth's hope on purification of life. At the same time, a harmonious relationship between man and nature help people gain mental salvation. Lester Farley obtains inner peace in nature. Besides, love is the final salvation for modern people's mental crisis.– In the conclusion part, a summary is made based on the above analysis. The Human Stain expresses Roth's ultimate concern over human nature and the destiny of human beings. He insists on moral values in an age of materialism and has faith in salvations of modern man. The humanistic ideas in this novel heighten Roth's thoughts on human nature and are instructive to modern people. [Author’s translation]

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