MrKnowall教学内容Word格式文档下载.docx

1、MrKnowall教学内容#Reading Mr. Know-all ”：#A Post-colonial Perspective#Mr. Know-all is a short story written by the English author W. Somerset Maugham（1874-1965）, who is most famed for his novel Of Huma n Bon dage. Besides, he also ear ns his reputati on for his plays, and short stories. It is said that

2、he has bee n the highest paid writer around the world in the 1930s. He is rich in traveli ng experie nee, which in deed does great favor to his world-renowned travel stories. This story,Mr. Know-all, is one of these masterpieces.#This story takes place on a ship from San Fran cisco to Yokohama in th

3、e in terwar years, that is to say, this story is set in special time -i n the years betwee n World War I and World War II. The major character is Mr Kelada and the tide characters are Mr &# Mrs Ramsay and the narrator himself. On the ship from San Fran cisco to Yokohama, the n arrator has to share a

4、 cab in with Mr Kelada. The n arrator does not like him because he is not a native English. Besides, Mr Kelada always keeps talking, intending to show that he knows much more tha n any other people on the ship,which leaves the n arrator the impressi on of loquacity and vani ty. He is a good mixer an

5、d has known every one on the ship with in only three days. Due to his loquacity, he is named Mr Know-all ”，which is taken by him as a compleme nt. Mr Ramsay is the on ly pers on who debates with#Mr Kelada. They bet with Mrs Ramsay# pearl chain. Mr Kelada deals with pearl bus in ess and he is expert

6、in pearl, so Mr Kelada in sists Mrs Ramsayys pearl chain is precious and bets with Mr Ramsay a hundred dollars while Mr Ramsay declares it a cultured one costing only 18 dollars. Mr Kelada closely examines the pearl chain. But when he is about to announce his victory he catches a sight of Mrs Ramsay

7、s paly face. At last Mr Kelada cha nges his mi nd and admits he is wrong, with the risk of damaging his reputation and losing one hundred dollars. However the n ext day, he receives a letter en closed a hun dred-dollar no te. The narrator understandsthat Mr Kelada makes a white lie and at that mome

8、nt he dose not en tirely dislike Mr Kelada.#Mr Know-all is typical post-colonial literature. Post-colonial literature is a body of literary writing that responds to the intellectual discourse of Europea n coloni zati on in the Asia, Africa, Middle East, the Pacific, and other post-co lonial areas th

9、roughout the globe. Post-co lonial literature addresses the problems and con seque nces of the de-co loni zati on of a country and of a nation, especially the political and cultural independenceof formerly subjugated colonial peoples;# and it also is a literary critique of and about post-colonial li

10、terature, the undertones of which carry, com muni cate, and justify racialism and colo ni alism.1The con temporary forms of post-co lonial literature prese nt literary and in tellectual critiques of the post-co lonial discourse, by en deavourri ng to assimilate post-colo nialism and its literary exp

11、ressi ons.#As a result, race has bee n an importa nt theme in the post-co lonial literature. Racism, un der which race-related issues are mostly discussed, invo Ives the belief in racial differe nces, which acts as a justificati on for non-equal treatme nt, or discrim in ati on, of members of that r

12、ace. The term racism is com mon ly used n egatively and usually is associated with race-basedprejudice, dislike, discrim in ati on, or oppressi on. Sociologist David Wellman defines racism as a “ culturally sanctioned belief ” 2;# sociologists No?#l A. Cazenave and Darlene Alvarez Maddern define rac

13、ism as “.a highly organized system of race-basedgroup privilege that operates at every level of society and is held together by a sophisticated ideology of color/race supremacy.# 3Such ideology of supremacy can be typically reflected in post-co lonial theory and literature, whose overlapp ing themes

14、 in clude the in itial encoun ter with the coloni zer, the disruption of indigenous culture, the concept of “ othering” , colonial oppressi on, white supremacy, and so on.#Mr Know-all is a good representationof post-colonial themes and can be better interpreted by understanding the mentality behind

15、the colo nist ideology. This ideology divides people of the on etime com mon wealth coun tries and their desce ndants into coloni zers the “ self” and the colonizee the “ other” , and develops such mentality into white supremacy, discrim in at ing aga inst all other eth ni cities.#The men tality of

16、prejudice and discrim in ati on can eve n be clearly see n at the very begi nning paragraphs. The first sentence of the n arrator is that “ was prepared to dislike Max Kelada before I knew him. ” Why the n arrator has such a strong emoti on to Mr Kelada eve n before knowing him?# On the one hand, the n arrator does not want to share a cab in with a stra nger duri ng the 14-day tour from San Fra ncisco to Yokohama;# on the other hand, as a more intense and imma nent reas on, the n arr