消费文化视角下《嘉莉妹妹》的解读.docx

消费文化视角下《嘉莉妹妹》的解读.docx

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消费文化视角下《嘉莉妹妹》的解读

学号：

华北理工大学

NORTHCHINAUNIVERSITYOFSCIENCEANDTECHNOLOGE

毕业论文

GRADUATETHESIS

论文题目：

消费文化视角下《嘉莉妹妹》的解读

学生姓名：

专业班级：

11英语1班

学院：

外国语学院

指导教师：

2015年05月21日

InterpretationofSisterCarrieinthePerspectiveodConsumerCulture

By

Agraduatethesis

submittedinpartialfulfillmentoftherequirements

forthedegreeofBachelorofArtstothe

CollegeofForeignLanguages

NorthChinaUniversityof

ScienceandTechnology

May31st,2015

摘要

西奥多·德莱赛（1871-1945）是十九世纪美国著名的自然主义作家，作为一个世纪之交的作家,他感受到了社会的巨大变化，并用小说记录了美国社会和美国人的变化。

《嘉莉妹妹》是德莱塞的第一部小说，尽管出版之时并没有被广泛接受，但百余年的时间将它推向了美国文学的经典之作的行列。

十九世纪末二十世纪初，美国社会处于转型阶段。

工业化和城镇化迅速发展，美国由一个以生产型为主的社会转变成一个以消费型为主的社会。

消费及其背后的文化深刻地影响了当时的每一个人。

本文将从消费文化的视角来解读《嘉莉妹妹》，透过纷繁复杂五颜六色的物质世界，解读消费文化给女主人公嘉莉带来的积极和消极影响。

德莱赛在为我们呈现了美国工业化进程中的繁华的同时，也为我们打开了人性沦落的一面。

因而，他的作品如一面镜子，不仅反射了当时的社会生活，也让我们反观当下的飞速发展的经济社会。

在物质财富积累的同时，我们应该怎样保持人生价值的追求是我们一直在研究的课题，因此对嘉莉妹妹的解读可以为我们提供一些启示。

关键词消费文化；社会转型；西奥多·德莱塞；嘉莉妹妹

ABSTRACT

TheodoreDreiser（1871-1945）isoneofAmerica’sgreatestnaturalisticwriters.Attheturnofthecentury,hewitnessedtheimmensechangesofAmericansocietyandrecordedthembynovel.SisterCarrie,hisfirstnovel,wasnotwidelyaccepteduponpublication.However,overthehundredoddyears,ithasbeenprovedtoaclassicalAmericannovel.

Attheturnof20century,Americansocietywasgoingthroughlotsofchanges.Withthedevelopmentofindustrializationandurbanization,Americantransformedfromproducers’societytoconsumers’society.ConsumptionandtheculturebehindithadagreatinfluenceoneveryAmerican.ThepaperwillinterpretSisterCarriefromtheperspectiveofconsumerculturewiththepurposeofanalysingthetwo-sidedinfluencesonCarriethroughthecomplicatedsocialphenomenon.Throughthenovel,Dreisershowsustheprosperousofthesocietyatthattime,butalsothedegradationofhumanity.Thereforehisworkisamirrorreflectingthesociallifeofthattimeandremindingusofthecurrentdevelopingsociety.Itisaconfusingsubjectthathowtokeeppursuingthevalueoflifeintheprocessofmaterialwealthaccumulation.MaythisinterpretationofSisterCarriewillinspireus.

Keywordsconsumeculture；socialtransformation；TheodoreDreiser；SisterCarrie

CONTENTS

摘要I

ABSTRACTII

Chapter1Introduction1

1.1TheodoreDreiserandSisterCarrie1

1.2LiteratureReview2

1.3SignificanceandStructure3

Chapter2SocialBackground5

Chapter3ConsumerCultureandItsInfluence7

3.1.TheDefinitionofconsumerculture7

3.2TheInfluenceofConsumerCulture8

Chapter4ThePositiveInfluenceofConsumerCultureonCarrie10

4.1Desire10

4.1.2DesireonMaterialGoods10

4.1.2DesireonManner11

4.2Carrie’sBlues13

4.2.1TheReasonofHerBlues13

4.2.2BlueisHerCapital15

Chapter5ConsumerCulture’sNegativeInfluenceonSisterCarrie17

5.2TheLossofHomeandFamilyLove17

5.1ThedisillusionofDream19

Chapter6Conclusion21

BIBLIOGRAPHY23

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS24

Chapter1Introduction

1.1TheodoreDreiserandSisterCarrie

TheodoreDreiserisoneofAmerica’sgreatestnaturalistwriters.DreiserwasbornonAugust27,1871andraisedinTerreHaute,Indiana,inmiseryandbruisingpoverty.AtfifteenhefledfromhomeandwenttoChicago.Tosurviveinthismetropolis,hehadtoworkfromthebottomofsociety,clerk,dishwasher,journalist,magazineeditor.Hereadconstantlyand,likehishelplesscharacters,heyearnedforwealthandsuccessinthegreatmetropolisandsodidheinthelatteryears.

Asatum-of-centurywriter,emergingfromthebottomofthesociety,TheodoreDreiserlearneddeeplythehardshipsofthepoorandthegapbetweenthepoorandtherich.ThereadingofNietzscheandMachiavelliandthenewscientistsandphilosopherssuchasDarwin,ThomasHuxley,andHerbertSpencercontributestohisnaturalisticconcept.AndthereadingofBalzac,fromwhichheobtainedanewsenseofthecities,makeshisdescriptionofcitiesmoredetail,andgiveshimtheviewthatitshouldbethecitythathisnovelsetin.HederivedhischaractersfromBalzac’sandputtheminthemechanicalSpenseriancontext,whichisdraggedbydesire.Inthisway,TheodoreDreiserinitiatedhisownstylewhichislatercallednaturalism.Asaresult,TheodoreDreiserisconsideredoneofthemostoriginalAmericannovelistsintheearly20century.

SisterCarrieishisfirstnovelpublishedin1900.SisterCarrie,acountygirl,comestoChicagotolookforabetterlife.Shefirststayeithhersisterwhoseworking-classhomeis,however,toopoortokeepher.Winteriscomingandsheisseriouslyill.Atravelingsalesman,Druetbyname,whomshemeetsinthetrain,comestoherrescueandtakesherhomeashismistress.SisterCarrie’sbeautyattractsDruet’sfriend,Hurstwood,sothatherespectablemanagerdesertshiscomfortablehomeandfamilyandforceshertoelopewithhim.TheyrunfirsttoCanadaandthensettledowninNewYork.Forsometimetheyexperiencedirepoverty.SisterCarriehastogoouttofindworkonstage,butHurstwoodproveshimselftobeutterlyunfittosurvive.Hecannotfindajob,andbegsforandreceivessomeoccasionalsupportfromSisterCarrie.Hisdownfalliscompletewhenhecommitssuicideonacoldwinternight.SisterCarriemanagestomoveupinhercareer,andDruetcomesbaketorenewsomeconnectionwithher,onlytoberebuffedandleaverejected.Attheendofthestory,SisterCarrieisseensittinginherrocking-chair,stillrocking.

1.2LiteratureReview

Thoughithasbeenprovedtobeanexcellentworkoftheworldliterature,itisacontroversialnovelsinceitwasborn.Inwesterncountries,criticsreviewedSisterCarriemainlyfromtherelationshipbetweenliteratureandpublicmoralityinearly1920s.Thusafiercedebatebetweenthesupportersandcritics.Forinstance,SherwoodAndersonwritesthat“thefeetofDreiseraremakingapathforus”（2007:

14）.WhiletheopponentsholdthatDreiserwaslessapathfinderthananagentofregressioninhisdramatizationofthetriumphofanimalnatureoverhiscapacityforreasonandmoralchoice.Justas“TheNaturalismofMr.Dreiser”byStuartP.Sherman,inwhichhechargedthatDreiserhadeliminated“distinctivelyhumanvalues”andhadmade“animalinstinctsthesupremefactorinhumanlife.”（2007:

14）

SisterCarriewasregardedasaninfluentialexampleofnaturalismandrealism;however,itwasalsointerpretedfromdifferentperspectives.SuchasThomasp.RiggioexploredthesourceofCarrie’s“blues”inDreiser’sownfamilyandexperienceinordertodemonstratethedepthofDreiser’spsychologicalportrait;andRichardLehanalsodevotesmuchattentiontoCarrie,butheismorefullyoccupiedbytherelationshipofDreiser’sfundamentalbeliefstothenaturalisticformofSisterCarrieandbythebearingofthisformuponrecentcriticismethicdealwithtextualissuesandwiththehistoricalrelevanceofthenovel.AlanTrachtenbergexplored,inanessaywhichconnectstheoften-discussedissueofDreiser’snarrativestyletothemorerecentinterestinhishistoricism,thewayinwhichDreiserasnarrativevoicedeeplyinvolvesusinthecomplexyokingofsocialinformationandindividualconsciousnessinthenovel.（2007:

15）

Earlyinthe1930s,QuQiubai,oneofChina’sgreatcritics,introducedDreisertotheChina,butnotmuchattentionhadbeenattracted.In1978,Chinacarriedoutthesocialistreforms.Theopeninguppolicyandthemarketeconomywereadopted,whichsignificantlyimprovedChinesepeople’slivesculturallyandmaterially.Inthisperiod,moreandmoreforeignworksofliteraturewereintroducedintoChinaandattractedtheattentionofChinesereadersandscholars.ButnotmuchattentionwaspaidtoSisterCarriebecauseCarrie’sethicalevaluationverymuchdivergedfromChinesetraditionalideology.Inthefirstdecadeaftertheopening-uppolicy,thereappearedafewcriticswhostudiedSisterCarriemainlyintermsofthenaturalismandethicalevaluation.Inthedecadeof1990s,morecriticswerecaughtattentionbySisterCarrie,butstillthenumberisnotdominating.

Profoundchangesoccurredasmankindenteredthe21th.Withtherapiddevelopmentineconomy,andthespeeding-upprocessofindustrialization,urbanizationandglobalization,ourideologyinindividualvalue,ethicalevaluationandpersonalbeliefgetgreatlychanged,too.Atthesametime,theconsumptionorientationhasundergonegreatchanges:

peoplearespendingmoreonhousing,tourismandentertainment.Undersuchcircumstances,greatinterestshavebeenarousedinSisterCarrie,avarietyofcritiquesfromChinesereadersandscholarscanbefound.TheystudySisterCarriefromdifferentperspectives,suchasnaturalism,realism,feminism,Freudianpsychology,poststructuralism,etc.Amongthem,thereareWangGanghu’s“SisterCarrie’sDesiresandMotivations”,LinBin’s“Dreiser’sContradictoryFeminisminTermsofCarrie’sFigure”,HuangKaihong’s“OnAmericanDreaminthetransitionalsociety:

SisterCarrie’sMoralTendency”,CuiXi’s“NaturalisminSisterCarrie”,ChenYuandLiQingqun’s“ConsumptionCultureinSisterCarrie”.Withthechangeofhistoricalcontext,thefigureofCarrieisbecomingmoreandmoreacceptableandheractions,understandable.

1.3SignificanceandStructure

ThepaperwillinterpretSisterCarrieintheperspectiveofconsumerculturewiththepurposeofanalysingthetwo-sidedinfluenceonCarrie.Shegainsfromthecontextofconsumercultureandpainsaswell.Astheformerresearchersalwaysfocusonherlossesduringhergrowingup,thispaperwilladdherbeneficefromconsumerculture.Thatistheinnovativepointofthispaper.Byanalysisingthetwo-sidedinfluences,thispapert