新历史主义解读《哈姆雷特》大学学位论文.docx

新历史主义解读《哈姆雷特》大学学位论文.docx

《新历史主义解读《哈姆雷特》大学学位论文.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《新历史主义解读《哈姆雷特》大学学位论文.docx（18页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

新历史主义解读《哈姆雷特》大学学位论文

毕业论文

学生姓名

刘璐

学号

020901052

院（系）

外国语学院

专业

英语（师范）

题目

新历史主义解读《哈姆雷特》

指导教师

徐晓兵讲师

（姓名）（专业技术职称/学位）

2013

年

5

月

10

日

NewHistoricistReadingofHamlet

AThesisSubmitted

toSchoolofForeignLanguages

HuaiyinNormalUniversity

inPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirements

fortheDegreeofBachelorofArts

By

LiuLu

Supervisor：

XuXiaobing

May10,2013

Acknowledgements

Iwanttoexpressmyappreciationtomanywhosupportedmyeffortsinwritingthisdissertationduringpastfewmonths.

IamgreatlyindebtedtoProf.Ms.Xuwhopatientlyhelpedmeandgavemealotofusefulinformation.Ittookheralargeamountoftimetoreadandimprovemypaper.Withoutherhelp,Iwouldhavefailedtofinishmypaper.Iamdeeplyimpressedbyherhardworkingspirit.

HeartythanksshouldalsobegiventoProfessorZhangXiuguo,whohasofferedthecourseEssayWritingthattellushowtowriteawell-formedthesis.

Specialthanksshouldbeextendedmyclassmateswhoshowtheirkindencouragementandusefulsuggestionstomeduringmywritingprocess.

Abstract

HamletisregardedasthepeakofShakespeare’sartisticcreation.Fromthenon,theplayhasbeenstudiedbyalargenumberofliteraryscholars,manyofwhomholdvariousopinionsaboutthetext,so-called“thereareonethousandHamletsinonethousandreaders’minds”.TheobjectiveofthisthesisistodisclosetherelationshipbetweenHamletanditshistoricalcontextbyapplyingthemajortheoriesofNewHistoricism,especiallytheNewHistoricistdictumof“historicityoftextandtextualityofhistory”.BasedonNewHistoricism,thethesisexaminesthetextfromthreeaspects:

firstly,Shakespeare’screationalbackgroundofHamlet;secondly,theinfluenceofthehistoricalcontextonHamletwhichmakestheplayarepresentationoftheElizabethaneraandthespecificeffectofHamletontheconstructionofthehistoricalcontextoftheElizabethanera.Last，theimportantroleplayinginthedevelopmentofdramaandculture.Thus，thenewhistoricistreadingofHamletwillhighlightsomeculturalaspectsofthetext.

Keywords:

Hamlet;Shakespeare;NewHistoricism；historicity；textuality

摘要

《哈姆雷特》是莎士比亚艺术创作的巅峰之作。

时至今日，莎翁评论家依然对该剧众说纷纭，真所谓“有一千个读者就有一千个哈姆雷特”。

本文运用“文本的历史性和历史的文本性”这一新历史主义最重要的理论，挖掘《哈姆雷特》与它所产生的社会历史环境间的“对话性”关系。

本文从三个层面解析文本：

首先探讨莎士比亚创作《哈姆雷特》的历史背景；其次《哈姆雷特》反映了伊丽莎白时代的特定历史背景，揭示历史对文本的影响；最终指出《哈姆雷特》在英国戏剧和文化发展中所起的重大历史作用。

因此，本文将有助于文本的文化层面的解读。

关键词：

《哈姆雷特》；莎士比亚；新历史主义；历史性；文本性

Contents

1.Introduction1

2.AnIntroductiontoNewHistoricism2

2.1ThedefinitionofNewHistoricism2

2.2MajortheoriesofNewHistoricism2

3.Hamlet—theProductofShakespeare’sNegotiationwiththeHistoricalContext4

3.1ThedynamicroleShakespeareplayedincreatingHamlet4

3.1.1Shakespeare,asecretCatholicsympathizer4

3.1.2Shakespeare’sinterestinmentalproblems5

3.2ThesubmissiveroleShakespeareplayedincreatingHamlet7

4.Hamlet—ARealisticRepresentationoftheSocietyintheElizabethanEra8

4.1AbriefaccountofthereligiousandsocialbackgroundoftheElizabethanera9

4.2CharactersinHamlet:

typicalfiguresoftheElizabethanera10

4.2.1TheroleofHamletinthetext10

4.2.2TheroleofFortinbrasinthetext11

5.TheHistoricalPowerofHamlet11

5.1Dramaticlevel12

5.2Culturallevel13

6.Conclusion14

WorksCited16

1.Introduction

Shakespeare’sHamlethasarousedhotdiscussionsamongmanycriticsinallages.Fromtheearly17thcentury,theplaywasfamousforitsghostandvividdramatizationofmelancholyandinsanity,leadingtoaprocessionofmadcourtiersandladiesinJacobeanandCarolinedrama.Thisviewchangeddrasticallyinthe18thcentury,whencriticsregardedHamletasahero—apure,brilliantyoungmanthrustintounfortunatecircumstances.Forexample,GilbertMurraysaidinhis“HamletandOrestes”that“ThethingsthatthrillandamazeusinHamlet...butthingsbelongtotheoldstoriesandtheoldmagicrites”（171）.Bythe19thcentury,literarycriticismcametofocusmoreoncharacterandlessonplot.Inthe20thcentury,criticismbranchedinseveraldirections,discussedincontextandinterpretation.However,fewcriticspaymuchattentiontoitshistoricalbackground.TheauthorwasinvokedbythemintoaseriousthinkingaboutthespecificrelationshipbetweenHamletanditshistoricalbackground.IsHamletdeeplyinfluencedbythehistoricalbackground?

Doesithavesomeinfluenceonthehistoryinreturn?

AndhowdidShakespearecreatesuchaplayatthatparticulartime?

NewHistoricismoffersaperspectiveforauthor’sthinkingbecause“therelationshipbetweenhistoryandtextremaininthecenteroftheNewHistoricistarguments”（ZhuG260）.ThetheoriesofNewHistoricismwouldprovidemewithwiderandfirmerbasistomakeasystematicstudyontherelationshipbetweenHamletanditshistoricalcontext,whichinthisspecificaspect,couldbemoreindepththanthepreviousstudies.Theauthorwouldliketodivideherdissertationintomainlyfourparts.Inchapter1,theauthorwouldgiveabriefintroductionisgiventoNewHistoricismanditsmajortheories,especiallythosewhicharefeasiblefortheresearchonHamlettoofferatheoreticalbasisformyresearch.Authorwouldfocusontheauthor,Shakespeareinchapter2,applyingsometheoriesofNewHistoricismsuchas“socialenergy”and“negotiation”toanalyzehowShakespeareproducedHamlet.ThenexttwochaptersdealwiththerelationshipbetweenthetextHamletandthehistoricalcontextoftheElizabethanErawiththehelpofthewell-knownNewHistoricistdictumof“historicityoftexts”and“textualityofhistory”separately.Inchapter3,theauthorwoulddiscusstheinfluenceofhistoryonthetextwhichmakestheplayarealisticrecordingoftheElizabethanEra.Andtheauthorwoulddiscussinchapter4theinfluenceofthetextonthehistoricalcontext—thehistoricalpowerofHamlet.Onthewhole,theauthorwoulddoaresearchonShakespeare’sHamletfromtheperspectiveofNewHistoricisminordertoshowtheimportantvalueofthisplaytoanalyzeinter-influencebetweentheplayandthehistoricalcontextoftheElizabethanEra,andtoapproachagaintotherelationshipbetweenhistoryandtext.

2.AnIntroductiontoNewHistoricism

2.1ThedefinitionofNewHistoricism

AccordingtotheNewWorldEncyclopedia,“NewHistoricismisanapproachtoliterarycriticismandliterarytheorybasedonthepremisethataliteraryworkshouldbeconsideredaproductofthetime,place,andhistoricalcircumstancesofitscompositionratherthanasanisolatedworkofartortext”.NewHistoricismsuggestsliteraturemustbestudiedandinterpretedwithinthecontextofboththehistoryoftheauthorandthehistoryofthecritic.NewHistoricistsaimsimultaneouslytounderstandtheworkthroughitshistoricalcontextandtounderstandculturalandintellectualhistorythroughliterature,whichdocumentsthenewdisciplineofthehistoryofideas.Unlikeprevioushistoricalcriticism,whichlimiteditselftosimplydemonstratinghowaworkreflecteditstime,itevaluateshowtheworkisinfluencedbythetimeinwhichtheauthorwroteit.Italsoexaminesthesocialsphereinwhichtheauthormovedthepsychologicalbackgroundofthewriter,andthebooksandtheoriesthatmayhaveinfluencedhimorher.InNewHistoricists’eyes,“atextcanhaveneitheraunifiedideologynoranentirelyaestheticfunction”（Colebrook24-25）.

2.2MajortheoriesofNewHistoricism

NewHistoricismborrowsthe“PowerTheory”fromthefamousPost-StructuralistMichelFoucaulttoanalyzeindepththedetailedrelationsbetweenhistoryandtext.InFoucault’stheory,powerreferstherelationsofdominationandresistancewhichsaturateoursocial,politicalandculturalrelations,butitcanalsorefertothewaysinwhichpowerisaproductive,evenpleasurable,partofourexistence.Itiseverywhere;notbecauseitembraceseverything,butbecauseitcomesfromeverywhere（Foucault93）.Obviously,“power”herehasamuchbroaderapplicationthanthewordslike“politics”and“economy”,whichareusedbythetraditionalhistoricism.“Poweralsoneedstohavesubversion,otherwiseitwouldbewithouttheopportunitytojustifyitself,andtomakeitselfvisibleaspower”（Brannigan8）.Asaresult,certaintextcouldbesubversivetosomeextent,intheinterestofpower.Foucault'sprincipalinterestishowpowerdiffusesitselfinsystemsofauthorityandhowitaffectsoftruthproducedwithindiscourseswhichinthemselvesareneithertruenorfalse.

InNewHistoricists’opinion,literarytextsareplacedinthespecifichistoricalcontextandrelatedtoothernon-literarytextswhichconstructedwithinotherspecifichistoricalcontext;similarly,historyisregardedasatextofinterrelatedcontexts.“DifferentNewHistoricistsmayhavedifferentinclinationstohistoricityandsexuality”（ZhuG260）.ThisisjustthefamousNewHistoricistdictumof“historicityoftextandtextualityofhistory”,whichbasedontheNewHistoricistLouisMontrose’stheory.InLouisMontrose’smostfamousdictum,theneworientationtohistoryinliterarystudiesmaybecharacterizedasadynamicdialoguebetweenliteratureandhistoryandithasareciprocalconcernwith“thehistoricityoftextsandthetextualityofhistory”.Historycaninfluencetextandinthemeanwhile,itcanalsobeinfluencedbytextandisconstitutedbyvarioustexts.“TherelationshipbetweenhistoryandtextremainsinthecentreoftheNewHistoricistarguments”（ZhuG206）.

AnotherimportanttheoryNewHistoricismhasestablishedisaboutthe“writer”.StephenGreenblattarguesthatthewriterasasubjectisalwaysdoing“self-fashionin