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1、论到灯塔去的复调性作者：胡艳玲 学号：09080605 指导老师：郭晓春摘 要：到灯塔去是英国小说家弗吉尼亚伍尔夫最具代表性的一部力作。以往对这部小说的研究多集中在女性主义解读、意识流技巧、诗化特征等方面。实际上，伍尔夫充分利用了复调织体多声部共时奏响的特点来编织素材，使整部小说形成意识流多声部的交响。复调理论是巴赫金在考察俄罗斯作家陀思妥耶夫斯基小说创作的过程中提出来的。巴赫金认为该作家小说中有着众多各自独立而不相融合的声音和意识，由具有充分价值的不同声音组成真正的复调。他借用了音乐学中的术语“复调”来说明这种小说创作中的“多声部”现象。本文以分析复调小说理论为切入点，着重探讨了“全面对话”
2、、“众生喧哗”和“未完成性”等典型复调特征在到灯塔去中的应用，并揭示了小说在叙事结构、主题和主人公形象塑造方面所表现得复调性，旨在挖掘作品的艺术价值。关键词：弗吉尼亚伍尔夫；到灯塔去；复调Freedom and Democracy:Individualism in WaldenAuthor：Li Weilin Number：09080112 Tutor：Tang XuAbstract: Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was one of the most impressive essayists and poets in the 19th century of
3、 America. Walden (Walden; or Life in the Woods) was his most famous essay, in which he depicted his life hermit in the woods. It was a retrospect over industrialism. This paper focuses on three parts: transcendentalism in Walden; individualism in Walden and its relationship with transcendentalism; t
4、he significance of individualism in modern society. The study on individualism of this masterpiece presents a new perspective to understand Thoreau and his writings. Whats more, it also makes people retrospect whats the real meaning of life.Key Words: Henry David Thoreau; Transcendentalism; Freedom;
5、 Democracy; IndividualismI IntroductionHenry David Thoreau was one of the few noted transcendentalists along with Ralph Waldo Emerson in the 19th century of the Romantic Period in America. Walden was Thoreaus most famous work in which he lived out the tenets of transcendentalism and recounted his ex
6、perience of solitude near Walden Pond in Concord. It was Thoreaus reflection of life and society. First published in 1854, Walden was a moderate success and was received favorably among its reviewers. Nowadays, the deep significance of this book has been rediscovered by groups of scholars. Most of t
7、hem focus on the environmental or transcendental thoughts of this master work. For example, environmentalism is the main idea of both The Ecological Meaning of Walden (张群芳，2004: 44-47) and The Dualism of Henry David Thoreau（周雪松, 2006: 8）This paper, however, interprets this masterpiece in the perspec
8、tive of individualism.Transcendentalism was a philosophical movement that developed in the 1830s and 1840s. It was based on the belief that the most fundamental truths about life and death can be reached only by going beyond the world of senses. Among the transcendentalists core beliefs was the inhe
9、rent goodness of both people and nature. Transcendentalists believed that society and its institutionsparticularly organized religion and political partiesultimately corrupted the purity of the individual. They had faith that people were at their best when they were truly self-reliant and independen
10、t. It was only from such real individuals that true community could be formed. And that is the profound significance of individualism.Nowadays, with the rapid development of economy, instead of mental satisfaction, people tend to prefer material satisfaction. This phenomenon causes some troubles in
11、society. And thoughts in this book, especially individualism, are still useful and have great significance on the development of our modern society. So this paper will focus on the individualism in Walden, especially on its pursuit of freedom and democracy. This paper consists of four chapters. The
12、Introduction of the author and the related information serve as the first chapter. Chapter two concentrates on the transcendentalism in Walden. Chapter three focuses on the individualism in Walden and analyzes the significance of individualism in modern society. Chapter four serves as the conclusion
13、 of this paper which summarizes the leading position of Thoreau in the field of literature and revalues the significance of his masterpiece, Walden. II Transcendentalism and Walden2.1 Transcendentalism and Henry David ThoreauWhen it comes to Thoreau or Walden, it is inevitable for people to remind o
14、f transcendentalism. Transcendentalism (18361855) was a great movement in American literature history. It was the summit of American Romanticism and was regarded as the “American Renaissance”. The great works during this period were the signs of American literature. It was led by a group of great sc
15、holars in American history, including Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau and so on.On being a transcendentalist, Thoreau was greatly influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was even regarded as a “minor Emerson” for a long time. Emerson was one of the leading thinkers, lecturers, and writers dur
16、ing a period when the literary character of the United States was being formed. In his role as spokesman for the American philosophical and ethical movement known as transcendentalism, he gave voice to a belief in the spiritual potential of every man. (Emerson, 2004:5)Thoreau met Emerson on a lectur
17、e of Emersons in Harvard. And he was deeply inspired by Emersons thoughts. According to Emerson, the hallmark of genius would be Americans heightened sense of self-reliance and it struck a note to which the young Henry David Thoreau clearly vibrated from head and toe. Later, Thoreau moved into Emers
18、ons house (twice) and became Emerson personal secretary. During this period, Thoreau read and understood Emersons works thoroughly and completely. Emerson also helped him with his writings. It was in this period that he gradually became a transcendentalist. Therefore, “Thoreau had the great good for
19、tune to meet and come under Emersons influence just as Emerson came into his own intellectually and artistically.” (Thoreau, 2003: 3) Thoreau inherited transcendentalism from his predecessor, Emerson. As Emerson appealed in The American Scholar, “whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist”, Thorea
20、u also encouraged that everyone should “pursue his own way, and not his fathers or his mothers or his neighbors instead”. (Thoreau, 2009: 80) They both claimed that man should develop an intimate relationship with nature and both of them firmly believed the tremendous strength of spirit. Whats more,
21、 Thoreau carried out those transcendental tenets in life. His life in the woods was an experiment which he endeavored to develop transcendentalism. He enriched it and pushed this movement to a climax. And that made him become a shining star in the history of American literature.2.2 Transcendentalism
22、 in WaldenAs one of the great transcendentalists, Thoreau made a great contribution to transcendentalism and the American literature. Walden, as one of his major works and the most famous one, is worthy of researching his transcendental thoughts. According to Walden, referred abstracts and books, Th
23、oreaus transcendentalism can be refined into the following points:1. Closeness to Nature Throughout Walden, one can easily find out the intimate relationship between Thoreau and nature. In the essay, Thoreau, Emerson commented Thoreau as “though a naturalist, he used neither trap nor gun. He chose,
24、wisely no doubt for himself, to be the bachelor of thought and Nature.”(Emerson, 2004: 23) In his opinion, Thoreau was closely attached to nature and so was nature itself. To Thoreau, Nature was the symbol of spirit and masked the true source of meaning and value for him. With the help of sense and
25、careful observation, one could dig them out.To him, Nature was friendly and was helpful to his spiritual enhancement. In Solitude, Thoreaus feeling about a raining vividly depicted that. He put it as follows, “In the midst of a gentle rain while these thoughts prevailed, I was suddenly sensible for
26、such sweet and beneficent society in Nature in the very pattering of drops, and in every sound and sight in my house, an infinite and unaccountable friendliness all at once like an atmosphere sustaining me, as made the fancied advantages of human neighborhood insignificant, and I have never thought
27、of them since.”(Thoreau, 2009: 150) With a distinctive scientific inquiry ,Thoreau explored the natural world in a poetic reflection.Words and phrases like “gentle”, “sweet and beneficent society in Nature” and “an infinite and unaccountable friendliness” incisively described Thoreaus love toward na
28、ture. He had unlimited enthusiasm for nature. In his hermit in the woods, most of his time was used to observe the natural world. Depictions about wild animals and landscapes around his abode were sparsely distributed almost in every chapter. In “Brute Neighbors”, Thoreau briefly discussed the many
29、wild animals that are his neighbors at Walden. A description of the nesting habits of partridges is followed by a fascinating account of a massive battle between red and black ants. Three of the combatants he took into his cabin and examined under a microscope as the black ant killed the two smaller
30、 red ones. He also collected animal specimens and shipped them to Harvard College for study. Thus, he was highly evaluated in his achievements in nature. “Though Thoreau began as something of an amateur, but he trained himself to be an accomplished, even a semiprofessional naturalist, fully conversa
31、nt with the most advanced literature of botanists and natural historians.”, commented in the introduction of the book, Walden and Civil Disobedience. (Thoreau, 2003:17) Its absolutely true. 2. Being a NonconformistThoreau was a nonconformist. He took it as his life creed. His life in the woods was a
32、n obvious evidence. No matter how controversial the public was about his hermit, he just went his own way. To him, a nonconformist would not conform to old conventions, old sayings, or any other things just like. In Thoreaus opinion, “Man is an animal who more than any other can adapt himself to all
33、 climates and circumstances” and “What a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates his fate.” (Thoreau, 2009: 71) Thus, he was strongly against imitation and criticized it as “The head monkey at Paris puts on a travelers cap, and the monkeys in America do the same.”(Thorea
34、u, 2009: 27) He desired that “there may be as many different persons in the world as possible; but I would have each one be very careful to find out and pursue his own way, and not his fathers or his mothers or his neighbors instead.”(Thoreau, 2009: 80)In this way, Thoreau encouraged the individuals
35、 to be brave and to be innovative; be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.; to oversee all the details yourself in person; to be at once pilot and captain, and owner and underwriter. In a word, be confident. Thoreaus Thoughts r
36、evealed above, along with Emersons, wakened America from long “sleeps” and liberated American literature from the dependence of Europe.3. Pursuing the Moral SoulThe moral soul was of great importance to Thoreau. His sense of moral outrage shaped civil disobedience which was evident throughout Walden
37、.He believed in conscience. It is a norm higher than the law of a nation. In his mind, “Law never made men a whit more just”, but conscience could. On the basis of this, he wrote Civil Disobedience which later greatly influenced the civil rights movement around the world. Thoreau thought the world a
38、t his time was over-civilized. With its material comforts, men would be incompetent and short of ambition for higher life. People, busy in pursuing the material goods, would be regardless of their spiritual life. As a result, they lived in “a quiet desperation”. To get rid of that situation, he urge
39、d that people should be “awake” from the long “sleep” in material pursuit and gave the solution that “Moral reform is the effort to throw off sleep.”(Thoreau, 2009: 102)In conclusion, he appealed, “Do not stay to be an overseer of the poor, but endeavor to become one of the worthies of the world” (T
40、horeau, 2009: 89)In sum, Thoreau called for pursuing the moral soul to fulfill ones life value. In the process of moral reform, one could find the true meaning of his or her life.III Individualism and Walden3.1 Individualism and TranscendentalismIndividualism, generally speaking, is the belief that
41、the rights and freedom of individual people are the most important in a society. It can also be defined as the behavior or attitude of someone who does things in their own way without being influenced by other people. Thus, it makes the individual hold that the fundamental premise that the human ind
42、ividual is of primary importance in the struggle for liberation. Therefore, individualism involves the right of the individual to freedom and self-realization. It can be classified into two branches: political individualism and philosophical individualism. On the side of politics, it can be further
43、divided into types like anarchism, liberalism. On the side of philosophy, it can be classified into ethical egoism, existentialism, humanism, hedonism and so on. In common sense, Individualism combines both the two sides. It is both a moral stance and political ideology. And that is the individualis
44、m that this paper intends to explore.After a brief understanding of individualism, one may find its striking similarity with transcendentalism. As the first notable American intellectual movement, transcendentalism deeply inspired succeeding generations of American intellectuals, as well as a number
45、 of literary monuments. Why it had such an impressive influence on those intellectuals? Transcendentalism, which had faith that people were at their best when truly “self-reliant” and independent, had freed the intellectuals from the bounds to Europe and made them truly independent. This is closely
46、similar to individualism. However, transcendentalism is more than just thougths of individualism. The individualism in it is not systematic, but fragmented. In a word, individualism is the inheritance and development of transcendentalism. Transcendentalism provides the theoretical basis for individu
47、alism. Thus, to be prudent, this paper takes transcendentalism into account in probing the individualism in Walden. 3.2 Individualism and Henry David ThoreauAs referred above, individualism lays great emphasis on the individual and encourages people to be self-reliant and independent. Therefore, Ind
48、ividualists promotes the exercise of ones goals and desires and so value independence and self-reliance while opposing external interference upon ones own interests by society or institutions such as the government. Its evident that the two most important elements of an individualist are the pursuit
49、 of liberty and the pursuit of self-realization. On the basis of this, Henry David Thoreau was absolutely an individualist. Reasons are as follows:Thoreau, as a transcendentalist, inherited and developed transcendentalisms main points. Among these main points, the emphasis of the individual is the most prominent. During his whole life, he was dedicated to put them into practice. No matter what obstacles laid ahead and whatever