《瓦尔登湖》的文体学分析.docx

《瓦尔登湖》的文体学分析.docx

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《瓦尔登湖》的文体学分析

英语文体学结课论文

对梭罗的《瓦尔登湖》的文体学分析

班级：

英语07-2班

姓名：

李晓璐

学号：

310714010207

Abstract

ThispaperwillintroducethebackgroundofHenryDavidThoreau.HismasterpieceWalden,orLifeintheWoodsishonoredtobeasGreenBible.Thebookembodieshisphilosophyandreflectshisindependentcharacter.Thepaperwilladoptstylisticanalysis,whichwillbehelpfulforustobetterunderstandthethemeandaestheticeffectofthebookandatthesametimethestylisticanalysisofthebookalsohasstrongsocialinfluence.Atpresent,ourChinesemodernconstructioncomestoanewstep,ithassomesimilaritieswithAmericaatthetimeofHenryDavidThoreau,sohowtokeepbalancebetweentheeconomicgrowthandthenaturalprotectionisnotthedesireofcitizens,butalsothedemandsofharmonioussociety.Sotheanalysisofthebookcanbenefitusalot.

KeyWords:

ThoreauH.D;Walden,orLifeintheWoods;StylisticAnalysis

Chapter1Introduction

1.1ThesignificantPlaceofHenryDavidThoreauinAmericanLiterature

HenryDavidThoreau,Americanwriter,philosopher,andnaturalistwhobelievedintheimportanceofindividualism.Whenhewasyoung,heheardaspeechofRalphWaldoEmersonwhichwascalledTheAmericanScholarandthisspeechwasthoughttobetheguideforyoungThoreau,itledhimtothetranscendentalism.Heshowedgreatinterestintranscendentalismandorientalbookswhichwerefullofmysteriousphilosophy.Inacommercial,conservative,expedientsocietythatwasrapidlybecomingurbanandindustrial,heupheldtherighttoself-culture,toanindividuallifeshapedbyinnerprinciple.Hedemandedforallmenthefreedomtofollowuniquelifestyles,tomakepoemsoftheirlivesandlivingitselfanart.Inarestless,expandingsocietydedicatedtopracticalaction,hedemonstratedtheusesandvaluesofleisure,contemplation,andaharmoniousappreciationofandcoexistencewithnature.Becauseofhisprolifictalentsinliterature,hewashonoredtobeasAmericanenvironmentalpioneerandmentalmasterofphilosophy.

Chapter2TheStylisticAnalysisof

Walden,orLifeintheWoods

2.1AGeneralOverviewoftheBook

Waldenwaspublishedin1854,sevenyearsafterHenryDavidThoreauendedhisstayinasmallcabinnearWaldenPond.InWalden,Thoreaucondensedeventsofhistwenty-sixmonthsojournintooneyear,forliterarypurposes.Theeighteenchapterscelebratetheunityofnature,humanity,anddivinity-acentralideaoftranscendentalism-andportrayThoreau’slifeatWaldenPondasanidealmodelforenjoyingthatunity.Thoreauwasverycriticalofmoderncivilization.Hefeltthatmanshouldseektruthdirectlybyhimselfandnotthroughimitationofothers.Thisbookdoesnotattractthecorrespondingattentionatthattime:

Astimegoesby,itbecomeshotterandhotter.Walden,orLifeintheWoodswashonoredoneofthe25masterpieceswhichshapepeople’slife;In1985,itwasbestowedoneof10bookswhichhadtheabilitytoconstructAmerican’scharacter.

2.2StylisticAnalysis

StylisticanalysisofWalden,orLifeintheWoodswillbedividedintofourparts.Theyarelexicallevel,grammaticallevel,figuresandspeech,cohesionandcontext.

2.21LexicalLevel

GeoffreyN.LeechandMichaelH.ShortinStyleinFiction（2001）haveexplainsuchtheorythatthewordsarethebasesofaparagraph,achapter,evenabook.Specialemploymentofspecialwordscangetspecialeffect,forexample,theycanenhancethedescriptionsandprotrudethetheme.Thoreauisaspecialman,sohisthoughts,suchashisaffectionfornatureandlife,hisindependentstyle,hispositiveideas,hisinnocentandnaughtycharacteristicsoftenappearinhisbook.Letusappreciatethemonebyone.

A.EmploymentofAdjectives

Example1:

“BreadIatfirstmadeofpureIndianmealandsalt,genuinehomecakes,whichIbakedbeforemyfireoutofdoorsonashingleortheendofastickoftimbersawedoffinbuildingmyhouse,butitwaswon’ttogetsmokedandtohaveapineflavor”（2004:

52）.Inthepassage,hetrieshisbesttomakepureIndianmealandsalt,genuinehomecakes,therearetwoadjectives“pure”and“genuine”,whichcanfullymakeusimaginethat“howdoesthewriterdo?

Wheredoeshedo?

Whathewoulduse?

”andsoaseriesofinterestingquestionswhichcanlargelyenhanceourappreciation.

Example2:

“IwenttothewoodsbecauseIwishedtolivedeliberately,tofrontonlytheessentialfactsoflifeandseeifIcouldnotlearnwhatithadtoteach,andnot,whenIcametodie,discoverthatIhadnotlived”（2004:

77）.Letuspayspecialattentiontotheadjectives“deliberately,essential”,fromwhichwecanseethehardlifeofThoreau,thoughwhenhemeetshisdifficultdays,hedoesnotgiveup.InourChinesehistory,therearesomepeoplewhowouldliketogiveuptheirmoney,theirlands,eventheirlivesinordertoachievetheirpursuits.JustasaChinesemanhasoncesaidthatifapeoplewantstohaveapositioninhistory,hemustknowwhatshouldbegivenupandwhatshouldbestuckto.HenryDavidThoreauhasafirmbeliefintranscendentalism,hethinkthatthepeoplecanhavedirectconnectionwiththenature,soinordertocompletehisbelief,inordertoexperiencethenature,heleavesnoisyworldforthehugofnature,sothesesentencesexpresshispuristfortherealityoflife.

Example3:

“Myresidencewasmorefavorable,notonlytothought,buttoaseriesofreading,thanauniversity,andthoughIwasbeyondtherangeoftheordinarycirculatinglibrary.Ihadmorethanevercomewithintheinfluenceofthosebookswhichcirculatingroundtheworld,whosesentenceswerefirstwrittenonbark,andarenowmerelycopiedfromtimetotimeontolinenpaper”（2004:

85）.Asweknow,whenThoreaulivesinWalden,hecomesintohislandwhichheexpectsalotbefore.Helikeshishouse,evenitisonlyahut,becauseasfarasHenryDavidThoreauconcerned,thishutprovidesanidealplaceforhimtolistentothenature,Whenheputshimselfinthenature,hefindsthathecomesintoahugelibrary,thenaturewilltellpeoplewhentogiveseedstolandandhowtoworkwiththelandinordertogetagoodharvest.Thenatureneveradvisespeopletocopybecauseeverydayforitselfisfreshandeveryonehastheabilitytoachievehimself.IthinkthispassagealsoreflectsthebadhabitofcopyinginAmericanliteratureatthattime.Thoughhehastosufferthepovertyoflifeand“solitude”ofspirit,thoughheonlylivesinasimplehut,butintheeyesofhim,thelifeis“favorable”andheisabsorbedinthereadingofnature.Thisadjectiveexhibitsapositiveman.

B.EmploymentofVerbs

AccordingtoGeoffreyN.Leech,StyleinFiction（2001）,verbshavestrongexpressiontoshowthestateandatmosphere,theadoptionsofdefiniteverbscanmakethedescriptionsmoreimpressive.Ofcourse,Thoreauisgoodatcomposition,hehasgoodabilitytohandletheverbs.

Example1:

Atthebeginningofthebook,hewrites:

”whenIwrotethefollowingpapers,orratherthebulkofthem,Ilivedalone,inthewoods,amilefromanyneighbor,inahousewhichIhadbuiltmyself,ontheshoreofWaldenpond,inConcord,Massachusetts,andearnedmylivingbythelaborofmyhandsonly.Ilivedtheretwoyearsandtwomonths.Atpresent,Iamasojournerincivilizedlifeagain.Iseeyoungmen,mytownmen,whosemisfortuneistohaveinheritedfarms,houses,barns,cattle,andfarmingtools,forthesearemoreeasilyacquiredthangotridofsomeofyou,weallknow,arepoor,findithardtolive,aresometimes,asitwere,gaspingforbreath”（2004:

21）.Fromthesentences,wecanseethewords“wrote,lived,hadbuilt,earned”,whichclearlyshowustwoThoreau:

oneisthepresentandtheotheristhepast.ThepresentThoreaulivesinahutandhehastodoeverythingbyhimself,butheishappy；ThepastThoreaulivesincity,heneedsnottodoeverythingbyhimself,butheisunhappy.Sofromthewordswecanseetheindependentandcompassionatecharacteristicsofhim.

Example2:

“IhavethussurveyedthecountryoneverysidewithinadozenmilesofwhereIlive,inimaginationIhaveboughtallthefarmsinsuccession,forallweretobebought,andIknowtheirprice.Iwalkedovereachfarmer,tastedhiswildapples,discoursedonhusbandrywithhim,tookhisfarmathispriceonit.Itookevery,buthimtosomeextent,Itrust,andwithdrawwhenIhadenjoyeditlongenough,leavinghimtocarryiton”（2004:

69）.Inthesentences,“surveyed,tasted,discoursed”exhibithisaffectionforhisresidencestrongly,whenhegoesintothenature,hefindsallthingsbelongstohim,thelands,thefarms,thefruits,sothesewordsdeepenourunderstandingofThoreau.

C.EmploymentofColloquialwords

Becausewhenthewriterwrotethebook,helivedinconcord,avillage,soitisapparentforustoseealotofcolloquialwords,whichmakethelanguagestylefresh.Letusseesomeexamples.

Example1:

“WhenIreturntomyhouseIfindthatvisitorshavebeenthereandlefttheircards,eitherabunchofflowers,orawreathofevergreen,oranameinpencilonayellowwantleaforachip”（2004:

93）.

Example2:

“Iplantedabouttwoacresandahalfofupland,anditwasonlyaboutfifteenyearssincethelandwascleared,andImyselfhadgotouttwoorthreecordsofstumps,Ididnotgiveitanymanure”（2004:

138）.

Fromthetwoexamples,thecolloquialwords“I,evergreenacre”makethedescriptionofthepassagemorerustic,fromthewholebook,theadoptionoflocallanguageisveryoftenandthestylemakesthefeaturesofthelanguagefresher,moreaccessible.

2.2.2GrammaticalLevel

Thispartisdividedintotwoparts,whichareemploymentofparallelismsentencesandquestio