The Way to A Sane Society – An Interpretation of Chopin's Humanistic Concern [走向健全的社会 - 肖邦的人文关怀阐释], Master thesis, English Language and Literature, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, Gansu, China 2015 [application of Fromm's theories to art].

  • 凯特•肖邦是美国文学史上最受争议的作家之一。由于她的代表作《觉醒》(1899)和小说《过错》(1890),人们认为肖邦是女性主义作家,而她的短篇小说又使她成为极具>地方色彩<的作家。肖邦的短篇小说大多收集在《牛轭胡的人们》(1894)和《在阿卡迪的一夜》(1897)这两本小说集里。这些故事大多以路易斯安那州的纳基托什教区为背景,重现了卡津人和克里奥尔人的生活方式,并从多方面描写了十九世纪的美国社会。本文从女性主义视角分析了肖邦小说对传统社会伦理的颠覆及其对女性境遇的思考,并用弗洛姆的>健全社会<理论探讨了肖邦构建和谐社会的构想。肖邦在她的小说中对十九世纪人的生存境遇进行了多方面的思考。她认为,在当时社会存在着许多问题,比如性别歧视、种族歧视、抚养子女问题、养老问题等等,这些社会问题在一定程度上造成了人的>异化<。凯特肖邦将这些>异化<问题的原因主要归结为爱的缺失以及不良文化的影响。因此,她的救济之方便是通过倡导爱来消除异化,通过>创造性倾向<以构建和谐社会。本文试图用女性主义和弗洛姆的>健全社会<理论从以上方面分析凯特肖邦的作品,以期提供解读肖邦作品的一个新视角。肖邦对十九世纪女性的境遇给与了很多关注。本论文通过分析一些女性角色,如《觉醒》中的艾德娜和阿黛尔展示社会对女性的异化;在《德西雷的婴孩》中作者阐释了黑人和白人的异化,并指出他们都是种族歧视的受害者。在《过错》和《萨宾人》中肖邦也展示了不同信仰者之间出现的异化现象。同时,肖邦还分析了导致异化的原因,即:经济的发展、传统文化的影响和爱的缺失。在揭露这些异化的同时,肖邦的作品还对和谐社会的构建进行了思考。在《觉醒》、《牛轭湖的那边》和《阿西比阿德的归来》中传达出肖邦通过爱来消除异化的思想。在《爱森内斯》、《如梦初醒》、《爱在布迪厄》和《遗产》中,肖邦表达了通过创造一种新的人际关系以达到夫妻和谐、父母与子女和谐以及种族和谐的希望。文章最后得出结论:肖邦的作品不仅表达了她对人的异化问题较为深入的思考,而且也表达了她对于构建健全社会的愿望和探索。
  • Kate Chopin, one of the most controversial writers in American literature, was regarded as a feminist writer because of her masterpiece >The Awakening< (1899) and her novel >At Fault< (1890). Her short stories also made her become an important writer of local color fiction and most of her short stories were collected in >Bayou Folk< (1894) and >A Night in Acadie< (1897). Setting in the Natchitoches parish of Louisiana, Chopin reproduces the lifestyles of Cajuns and Creoles. There are many wonderful stories in her collections, which depict the American society in the nineteenth century from many aspects. From the feminist perspective, the thesis analyzes Chopin’s subversion to the traditional society and her concern for women’s living conditions. Fromm’s theory provides the basic standpoint for the exploration of Chopin’s constructive expectations to a harmonious society. In her works, Chopin believes that there are many problems in the society, such as gender bias, racial discrimination, children-rearing and the pension issue, which cause people’s alienation. Chopin thinks that the alienation between people is caused by the development of economics, the influence of traditional culture and the absence of love. Therefore, Chopin advocates to eliminate alienation through love and to create a harmonious relationship through productive orientation. Under the guidance of feminism and Fromm’s thoughts in The Sane Society, this paper analyzes Chopin’s works from the aspects mentioned above and gives the readers a new perspective to understand them. Chopin cares much about the women’s condition in the 19th century. The thesis analyzes the characters of Edna and Adele in her novel The Awakening to show woman’s alienation in her times. In >Desiree’s Baby< Chopin illustrates that both of the black and the white are alienated and they are the victims of racial discrimination. Chopin also expresses the alienation among different religious believers in At Fault and her short stories >In Sabine<. In Chopin’s opinion, the reasons why people are alienated are the influence of economic development, conventional culture and the absence of love. Chopin’s works also illustrate her desire for a harmonious society. In The Awakening, >Beyond the Bayou< and >The Return of Alcibiade<, she hopes to eliminate alienation through love. Besides, through creating a new relationship between husband and wife in >Athenaise<, getting a harmonious relationship in >A Rude Awakening< and >Dead Men’s Shoes< and creating a harmonious relationship between different religious believers in >Love on the Bon-Dieu<, Chopin advocates to eliminate alienation through productive orientation. This paper concludes that Chopin’s works not only show her comprehensively thought to the alienation but also express her exploration to construct a harmonious society. [Author’s translation]

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Metadaten
Author:Caiyan Wang
Document Type:Dissertations
Language:Chinese
Year of first Publication:2015
Release Date:2017/11/20
Format:no download and copy possible
IdNo:Wang_Caiyan_2015
Writings about Erich Fromm (Secondary Literature):Dissertations / Dissertationen
Erich Fromm's Library and Erich Fromm Archive:Dissertations / Dissertationen
Licence (German):
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