A Psychoanalytic Approach to the Growth of Briony.docx
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APsychoanalyticApproachtotheGrowthofBriony
APsychoanalyticApproachtotheGrowthofBriony
XueGanggang
Abstract:
LanMcEwanisoneoftheBritain’smostinfluentialanddistinguishednovelists.SincehisworkAtonementwaspublishedin2001,itwonvarioushonorsincludingtheawardsoftheUSNationalBook,andithasalsobeenratedasoneofthemostpopularandsuccessfulnovelsinrecentyears.McEwan’swork----Atonementtellsastoryofa13yearsoldlittlegirlattainingmaturitybyatoningforherowncrime.Itisfoundthatinherwholelife,shechangesfromalyingchild,fulloffantasyandjealousytoahardrepentantyoungnurse,andfinallysheusesthewritingtoachievetheself-redemption.Inthelongandpainfulroad,shesensesofself,andknowsthetruemeaningoflife.Thisisthepriceofhergrowth.ThispapertriestouseFreud’psychoanalysiswhichincludestheid-drivedbytheoriginaldesire,theego-constrainedthedesirebymoralcriterion,andthesuperego-noblemoralsinternalizingforone’sownthinkingtostudythepsychologicalchangeofthemaincharacterBrionyandattemptstoshedsomelightonthedevelopmentofBriony’spsyche.ThispaperisbasedontheanalysisofBriony’psychologicalchangetoexplainthepriceofhergrowth.Sinceitspublication,abundantcriticismhasappearedconcerningthenovel’stheme,plot,characters,andnarrativetechnique,etc.Uptillnow,therearenosystematicinvestigationusingFreud’psychoanalyticmethodofid,egoandsuperegotointerpretMcEwan’sAtonement.SothisthesisintendstointerpretMcEwan’sAtonementfromtheperspectiveofpsychoanalyticmethod,whichprovidesreadersanewwaytoapproachthenovelandopenupnewpossibilitiesforabetterunderstandingandappreciationofthisnovel.
Keywords:
Freud;psychoanalysis;Briony’spiritualworld
以佛洛伊德的精神分析法解读《赎罪》中主人公的成长
薛刚刚
(安康学院外语系,陕西安康,725000)
摘要:
伊恩·麦克尤恩是英国当代最负盛名且最具影响力的作家之一。
其代表作《赎罪》自2001年出版以来,广受好评,赢得了包括美国国家书评奖在内的多项殊荣,而且也被评为近年来最畅销最成功的小说之一。
麦克尤恩的小说《赎罪》讲述了一个13岁的小女孩如何通过赎罪而步入成熟的故事。
在她的一生中,她从一个充满幻想和嫉妒说谎的小孩,到苦心忏悔的护士,在到用写作来自我救赎的作家,布莱奥尼在漫长而痛苦的赎罪之路上认识了自我,也认识了人生,这是她成长的代价。
本文试通过使用弗洛伊德的心理分析方法:
本我即由原始欲望驱使,自我即通过道德约束欲望,超我即高尚道德内化为自身思维,来研究女主人公布莱奥妮的心理变化,基于这些理论及其心理变化来阐述布莱奥尼成长的代价,在赎罪中成长。
虽然许多文学评论家从主题、内容、人物和叙述手法等不同角度对《赎罪》进行了剖析,但是至今还没有从佛洛伊德的精神分析法,本我自我超我这一独特视角对作品中女主人工进行系统深入的研究。
因此,本文从佛洛伊德的精神分析法解读《赎罪》中主人公的成长,有利于使读者们更好的理解文章,加深对布莱奥妮精神世界的理解,从而发现并感悟文章中潜在的艺术内涵,进入新的艺术空间欣赏。
关键字:
弗洛伊德;心理分析方法;布莱恩妮的心理变化
1.Introduction:
1.1Abriefintroductiontotheauthorandthenovelitself
LanMcEwanisoneofthemostinfluentialwritersinEnglishliteratureandheisfamousforhisworkforalmostaquarterofacentury.HewasborninAldershot,England,in1948,thesonofDavidMcEwanandRoseLilianViolet.HisfatherwasaworkingclassScotsmanwhohadworkedhiswayupthroughthearmytotherankofmajor.HespentmuchofhischildhoodinEastAsia,GermanyandNorthAfricawherehisfatherwasposted:
HewaseducatedatWoolverstoneHallSchoolandgraduatedfromtheuniversityofSussexinBrighton.Afterthathereceivedamaster’sdegreeattheuniversityofEastAngliawherehewasoneofthefirstgraduatesofMalcolmBradbury’spioneeringcreativewritingcourse.Then,hesettleddowninLondonin1947asaproductivewriter.Publishedin2001,AtonementiswidelyrecognizedasthebestofMcEwan’sbooksandoneofthemosthonoredandsuccessfulbooksinrecentyears.Andithaswonthe2002BookerPrizenomination,andultimatelyitisunsatisfyingwining,butitreceivedhighpraiseinthecritics.
ThestorybeginsonthesummerdayinasmallvillageofsouthBritain,themanor’slittledaughterBrionyseessomethingthroughthewindowthatsheshouldn’tseeintheafternoon.Andbecauseofthisaccidentalglimpse,herfateischangedandalsomakestwobelovedcoupleapart.Whatdoessheseeanyway?
BrionyhappenstobewatchingfromawindowwhenCeciliastripsoffherclothesandplungesintothefountaintopickupthefragmentsofavaluableporcelainvasewhichisaccidentallybrokenasRobbielookson.Feelingasenseofmenace,littleBrionyconcludesthatRobbiehasforcedhersistertodosomethingshamefulandthatheisamaniac.Thatafternoon,shereadsanobscenenotewhichRobbiewritestoCecilia.Laterthatevening,BrionythinkssheseesRobbieharassingCeciliainthelibrary.Soforateenagergirlattheageof13,itishardforhertoacceptthis,andshebelievesRobbieisanerotomania.Unfortunately,hercousinLolaisrapedatthatnight.AlthoughBrionydoesnotseethepeoplewhorapeshercousin,withabadimpressionofRobbie,BrionyarbitrarilythinksthatRobbieistherapist.Therefore,youngandtalentedRobbieisputintoprison,andhersisterCeciliabreakswithherfamily.WhenBrionyrealizesthatshehaswrongedaninnocentperson,itisevenlateforhertoapologize.Attheendofthenovel,RobbieandCeciliabothdieinthewar.ThetrickoffatemakesBrionygrowupinrepentancewhichisthepriceofhergrowth.Inthegrowthoftheentanglements,Briony,fromapalpitatinggirlwithherownstandardtojudgerightandwronggraduallygrowsintoafemaleimagefullofloveandredemption.Sothispapertriestoanalyzefromtheperspectiveofpsychologicalanalysis,andcombiningwiththecharacteristicsofnovelnarrativetounderstandthoroughlythechangesofBrionywhensheisredeemingherselffromsin.
Sincethenovelwaspublishedfrom2001,ChineseandforeignscholarsarekeentostudywidelyonIanMcEwenandhisliteraryworks,buttheauthorfoundthatfewpeoplemanagetocombinethenovelwithFreud'spsychoanalysistoanalyzethepriceofgrowthoftheheroineBriony.Therefore,thisoffersnewspaceforannewinterpretationofthisnovel.
1.2Literaryreviewathomeandabroad
Atonementhasreceivedwidespreadpraisefromthereviewerssinceitspublication,manycriticsathomeandabroadhaveshowedtheirinterestsinAtonement,andtheyhavepaidattentiontothisnovelfromdifferentangles,sotheyhaveputforwardmanyideas.
Inforeigncountries,manyeditorsandcriticsshowtheirinterestsinAtonement,andmostofthereviewsfromthenewspapersandthemagezinesconcentrateonthethemes,suchaswar,love,guilt,imaginationorthecharactersandhistoricalbackgroundsofbook.ManyforeignscholarshaveconductedalotofresearchontheworkAtonement,forexample,somecriticspayattentiontothethemeofthenovelandusemeta-fictiontoanalyzethisnovel.TheCanadiancriticLindaHutcheonholdsthatmeta-fictionisthe“fictionaboutfiction,andthenovelcontainsthecommentofitsessayintheirownlanguage”(Hutcheon,2004).Similarly,BrainFinneyconcentratesontheself-conscioususeofnarrativeinAtonementandarguesagainstthosereviewersofAtonementwhocriticizeAtonementtobeessentiallyrealistnovelthatintheendinappropriatelyresortstoamodishself-reverentially.AndinhisbooktheBlessingofAtonementforIanMcEwen,hepointsoutthattheendofAtonementhasthecharacteristicsofmeta-fiction(Finney,2004:
68).AdamBegleysaysinTheNewYorkObserver,Atonementwillmakeyouhappyinatleastthreeways;itoffersalovestory,awarstoryandastoryaboutstories,andsoithitstheheart,thegutsandthebrain(Begley,2002).TomSeannoticesthatanovelistisabletowriteperfectaestheticprinciplesoftoleranceinhisbookinTheWhiteLies-TheSeriousPropositioninIanMcEwan'snovelAtonement,andthevirtuethatBrionyexpectedisownedbyLanMcEwan.Hebelievesthattheplot,suspenseandthepersonalemotionintheworkAtonementisthestylesensitive(Simon,2002).Itisthemostcompleteandcompassionateworksuptillnow.
Also,manyforeignwritersanalyzethisnovelfromdifferentaspects,andsomescrupulouscriticshavenoticedtherelationshipbetweenAtonementandotherwriter’sbooks.In2001,FrankKermodemakesananalysisofthesuperficialresemblanceofAtonementtoHenryJames’sWhatMaisieKnewinhisbookPointofViewin2001(Kermode,2001:
4).JamesHaroldhasdiscussedaboutthesimilaritiesintheplots,settings,andcharactersofMcEwan’sAtonementandMargaretAtwood’sTheBlindAssassin(Harold,2005:
1).In2006,theBritishsundaypostpublishedanessaywrittenbyJulieLangtonwhichexposesthatBrionygetsadressingdowninthehospitalthatittakesexamplebyBritishRomanticnovelistPushira’swork.
TheresearchofLanMcEwanhasjuststartedinChina,andwehavegotsomeresearchpapersaboutthiswriterandhisbooks.AtonementwasfirsttranslatedintoChinesebyGuoGuoLiangin2005.Afterthat,itwasrevisedandreprintedforseveraltimes.Comparedwithmajorwesterncritics,atthebeginning,theChinesecriticsdidnotpaymuchattentiontothisnovel.
However,somefamouscriticsdidstarttowritearticlesinordertointroducethepopularBritishwriterLanMcEwanandhisworks.QuShijing,professorfromShanghaiAcademyofsocialScience,wroteanarticleoncontemporaryBritishwritersin1995,inwhichhehighlyappraisedMcEwan.Soon,somecriticsbegantopayattentiontoAtonement.YinJiming(尹吉明,2012)inthearticleanalysesMcEwanAtonementwithhumanisticconcerninthefundamentalvalueholdsthatthisstorytellsastoryaboutsoulsalvationbutnottorevealtheevilorkindofhuman,nottorebukea13yearsoldgirlwhomakesmistakes.Itcallsforthewarmofhuman,thetoleranceandcareofhuman.Itisalwaysinevitabletomakemistakesinhumanlifeandtheonlythingyouneedtodoisjusttofaceyourpastbravelyandyoushouldhavethesenseoftheconscious.Onlyinthatway,canyouhaveahopeofself-redemptionsoastoachieveself-improvementofhumanity.Theexcellentliteraryworkreflectstheharmoniouslife,tellspeople