當抗命者遇上典律：試析《純真年代》中異質與同質間的衝突

When the Disobedient Meets the Rules: Analyzing the Conflictbetween Heterogeneity and Homogeneity in "The Age ofInnocence"

鍾淑玫(Shu-Mei Chung)

《SPECTRUM ： NCUE Studies in Language, Literature, Translation》 6期 (2010/01) Pp. 1-19

https://doi.org/10.29601/YYWYLL.201001.0001

摘要

本論文試圖在伊蒂斯．華爾頓（Edith Wharton）所著的《純真年代》（The Age of Innocence）中，以形式主義作為理解作品方法，探究由異質與同質間之衝突所產生的張力。在世紀轉換之際的紐約社會，是一個閉鎖的階級制度社會，在這裏社會階級和世襲傳統決定了個人的社會地位。屬於同質的是那些謹守典律與風俗「有如生死般重要」的十九世紀紐約上流社會人士，而媚．維蘭（May Welland）是他們的代表人物；屬於異質的是那些曾經一度無依無靠，或是在紐約上流社會中行為舉止不順從典律或不體面的人，而艾倫．奧蘭斯嘉（Ellen Olenska）正是他們最具代表的典型。我對此文本的閱讀，著重在於分析媚．維蘭與其族類和艾倫．奧蘭斯嘉與其同類之間隱晦的爭鬥對抗，其所產生的張力，如何主宰著整個文本的律動。而此文本的表現形式、結構與含有言外之意的遣詞用字，也都值得以形式主義（formalistic approach）作為理解作品方法來做一番徹底的檢視。因此，我想要提供二元階級組織這樣的主題，作為討論《純真年代》的另一面向，以期了解究竟異質能對抗同質（或同質能對抗異質）到什麼樣的程度。

並列摘要

This paper explores the tension created by the conflict between heterogeneity and homogeneity in Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence in a formalistic approach. New York society at the turn of the century is a caste one where social class and heritage define an individual's place in the social hierarchy. The homogeneous groups are the nineteenth-century upper-class New Yorkers who follow the rules and customs which are ”as important as life and death” and their model is May Welland; the heterogeneous groups are those who were once outcast or have been seen behaving disobediently or scandalously in the fashionable New York society and Ellen Olenska is their representative. My reading of this text focuses on analyzing the stress that is shaped by the invisible struggle between May Welland's group and that of Ellen Olenska's and dominates the flux of the whole text. The text's form, structure and words of connotative implications also deserve of a thorough examination in a formalistic approach. Thus I want to be able to offer another dimension of discussing The Age of Innocence, that is, the theme of binary hierarchies, to see to what extents can heterogeneity confront with homogeneity, or vice versa.