- 學位論文
從敘事學的觀點分析《湯姆歷險記》的續集《頑童歷險記》
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as Sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: A Narratological Approach
摘要
本論文從敘事學的觀點分析探討《頑童歷險記》的寫作技巧，並試著擴展過往分析此本小說的窠臼觀點。 過往學者對《頑童歷險記》其結局總是爭論不休、看法正反兩端。本論文試著另闢新路，從敘事理論的觀點著手，深入探討馬克吐恩在創作《頑童歷險記》時採用的獨特寫實技巧及其非凡的寫實效果。幽默諷刺大師土恩在創作《頑童歷險記》時，有著非常細膩的手筆。有別於前傳《湯姆歷險記》的第三人稱敘事觀點，土恩在創作《頑童歷險記》時，歷經一番省思後大膽且有見解地改變人稱，從第一人稱的觀點來敘述哈克和吉姆搭著木筏順著密西西比河一路南下的冒險故事。藉由哈克這個第一人稱的故事敘述者，馬克土恩不但在《頑童歷險記》裡反映、抨擊南北戰爭前的南方蓄奴制度，並諷刺當時南方人民的虛榮、虛偽和愚昧。更重要的是，土恩藉由哈克這個第一人稱的故事敘事者，微妙且精緻的捕捉美國於此時期特有的鄉土口語，並利用第一人稱之便，深刻地探索一個白人階級裡地位低下的青少年，其被社會枷鎖束腹著無法掙脫痛苦的心聲。藉由哈克這個天真無邪的敘事者，馬克土恩幾乎完美地掩飾了自己身為作者對當時社會與人心的批判。透過探討分析馬克土恩於《頑童歷險記》的高超寫作技巧，我們恍然發現，過往學者對《頑童歷險記》的爭議不休是不應該的。過往許多學者對這小說的負面評價多半出自於對於作者的寫作技巧不甚了解，造成他們後續一連串地對小說內容及其用意有所曲解。透過續式學的觀點，我們更深入地了解為何土恩會被尊稱為美國文學的開創者、寫實主義的代表者、以及美國文學的幽默大師。
關鍵字
敘事學並列摘要
This thesis aims to widen interpretive perspectives on Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by exploring narratolgically the novel’s narrative strategies. Instead of debating the novel’s controversial ending and racial issues, it attempts to analyze the narrative strategies and effects with which Twain made Huck Finn one of the world’s greatest literary works. Chapter one contrasts the style of Huck Finn with that of its predecessor, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Narratological distinctions such as first and third-person narration, voice and point of view, and authorial values distinguished successfully or not in fiction, are helpful criteria to explore and contrast Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn in depth. Twain’s shift from Tom Sawyer’s third to Huck Finn’s first person point of view is analyzed as a shrewd choice by which Twain made the sequel a much better book than its predecessor. Chapter two examines narrative strategies and effects that animate Huck’s first-person narration in Huck Finn. It deals with Twain’s lifelike record of Huck’s colloquial voice in written form through which the Southwestern vernacular of an outcast adolescent is captured. It also explores Twain’s other strategies by which events and the central character’s inner complexities are portrayed mimetically. Most importantly, chapter two deals with Twain’s merging of past and present into a consonantly realistic first-person narrative so that what happens to Huck is relived verisimilarly from his past unenlightened perspective, deepening the irony in the novel. Twain’s technical mastery in Huck Finn is attributed in this chapter to his tenaciously shrewd handling of Huck’s first-person perspective and voice. With the advantages of Huck’s first-person unenlightened perspective and colloquial voice, Huck Finn proceeds more realistically, exquisitely and ironically than Tom Sawyer. Twain’s narrative strategy is indeed why Huck Finn is reputed so highly. A narratological perspective enables us to understand the uncanny greatness and deep implications embedded intricately in Huck Finn as well as how the controversies about the novel’s ending and racial issues could possibly be resolved.