【作者】 郑莉；

【导师】 张儒林；

【作者基本信息】 西北师范大学 ， 英语语言文学， 2005， 硕士

【摘要】 毫无疑问,西奥多·德莱塞是美国文学历史上最重要的作家之一。《美国悲剧》也被公认是他的代表作。尽管这是一部内容简单的长篇巨作,它却给德莱塞带来了颇丰的收入和很高的声誉。本文试图通过对小说主题和写作技巧的分析来探求德莱塞作品的艺术特色以供读者参考。 德莱塞在这部小说中选取了一个美国人所熟知的主题:一个年轻人对美国梦的追随。受社会环境、家庭背景和自身遗传因素的影响,小说的主人公克莱德从一个幼稚单纯的少年堕落为虚荣、自私、无耻、狠心的杀人犯。克莱德的悲剧在那个时代的美国年轻人身上具有代表性。德莱塞选择这个主题不仅想告诫读者美国梦是一个幻想而且也暗示了德莱塞在个人追求过程中的失败。 同许多著名作家一样,德莱塞给我们留下了很多困惑。有的评论家们称他为现实主义者,有的称他为自然主义者。很多评论家曾试图把德菜塞划分在某个流派,但这样的努力无疑是徒劳的,在德莱塞的代表作品《美国悲剧》中,德莱塞展示了他在人物塑造和情节构思方面卓越的天分。本文分析了德莱塞在这部小说的人物塑造和情节构思所使用的技巧并得出结论这部小说在人物塑造上均采用了现实主义和自然主义的手法,而德莱塞通过对原材料的删节和夸张使这部小说不但是一个谋杀案的真实记录而且是一部引人入胜的艺术品。这部小说也成为自然主义和现实主义完美结合的产物。 在这部小说中,德莱塞既采纳了现实主义的一些原则也运用了自然主义的很多技巧,他并没有生搬硬套现实主义或自然主义的那些教条,而是在自己的小说创作中根据需要灵活地穿插使用以使自己的作品真实感人。更值得一提的是德莱塞在这部小说中成功的运用了弗洛伊德的心理分析理论来揭示小说中人物的内心冲突。这也就是一些评论家认为德莱塞的伟大之处在于他的洞察力,他的同情心和他对生活的悲剧观点,而不仅仅是他在美国自然主义文学上的贡献。更多还原

【Abstract】 Theodore Dreiser is unquestionably one of the most important American writers in American literary history. An American Tragedy is generally regarded as Theodore Dreser’s masterpiece. Though it is a long novel with a simple plot, it attracted many readers and critics and brought Dreiser fame and commercial success with its publication. This essay attempts to analyze the theme and writing skills exposed in the novel to explore some artistic features of Dreiser’s writing and provides readers a kind of enlightenment while reading.Theodore Dreiser chose a familiar American theme in this novel: A young inexperienced beginner’s pursuit of American Dream. Influenced by the factors from society, family and his own heredity, Clyde degrades gradually from a naive innocent boy to a sly, flattery, immoral, shameless, cruel and inhumane murderer. Clyde’ s tragedy is a representative of American youth at that time. Dreiser chose this theme not simply to caution the readers that the American Dream was only an illusion but to suggest his failure in self-seeking.Like many famous writers, Dreiser is not one-dimensional but full of complexities. "Realist" and "Naturalist" are both terms that have been applied to Dreser by critics. Many literary critics have been trying to put him into a certain category, but have invariably failed. In his masterpiece, An American Tragedy, Dreier exposed his outstanding talent in characterization and plot creation. The thesis analyzed skills that Dreiser had applied in characterization and plot creation and concluded that the novel’s characterization had characteristics of both categories. Through some omission and exaggeration in plot creation, Dreiser made the novel become not only an authentic report of a murder case but also an attractive work of art for readers. The novel became the perfect combination of naturalism and realism.Dreiser absorbed and applied both realistic and naturalistic skills to invent his characters and plot in this novel. He did not dogmatically follow the doctrines of realism or naturalism, but applied them flexibly thus made the novel more authentic and attractive to readers. Another greatness Dreiser achieved in this novel is his successful application of Freud’s psychoanalytic theory in exploring the inner conflicts of characters. That’s why some critics began to realize that Dreiser’s greatness as a writer was beyond his achievement in naturalism but lies in his insight, his sympathy, and his tragic view of life.更多还原