论《老人与海》中的英雄主义文献综述

1.Introduction

1.1Researchbackground

ErnestMillerHemingway(1899-1961)wasoneofthemostoutstandingnovelist,short-storywriterandjournalistinAmericanhistory.Hewasbornintoawell-educatedfamilyasthesecondkidandthefirstson.Hisfatherwasasuccessfulphysician,lovingfishingandhuntingandmother,amusicteacher.HemingwaybecameawardriverandgotinjuredinWorldWarI.HealsohuntedinAfricaandactedasawarcorrespondentinSpanishCivilWar.HevisitedChinaandsupportedtheAnti-JapaneseWar.Later,hebecameinvolvedwiththeexpatriateliteraryandartisticcirclesurroundingGertrudeSteinwhenhewasworkinginParisasacorrespondentfortheTorontoStar,Hisworksduringthe1920swererepresentativeoftheLostGeneration.ThenhesettledinCubain1945.AfterhisexpulsionfromCubabytheCastroregime,hemovedtoIdaho.Hewasincreasinglyplaguedbyillhealthandmentalproblems,andinJuly,1961,hecommittedsuicidebyshootinghimself.Allthesewarexperienceshadgreatinfluenceonhisworks.Hemingwaywasknowntofocushisnovelsoncodeheroeswhostrugglewiththemixtureoftheirtragicfaultsandthesurroundingenvironment.

Hemingwayseconomicalandunderstatedstylehadastronginfluenceon20th-centuryfiction,whilehislifeofadventureinfluencedlatergenerations.Hepublishedsevennovels,sixshortstorycollections,twonon-fictionworksandsomeotherworkspublishedposthumously.ManyofhisworksareconsideredclassicsofAmericanliterature.HewroteTheOldManandtheSeain1951inCuba,whichwaspublishedin1952.ThestorycentereduponSantiago,anagingfishermanwhostruggledwithagiantmarlinfaroutintheGulfStream.HemingwaysaidthatitwasthebestIcanwriteeverforallofmylife(Desnoyers12).AfterreceivingthePulitzerPrizeforthisnovelinthesameyearofitspublication,HemingwaywasawardedtheNobelPrizeforLiteraturein1954forhismasteryoftheartofnarrative,mostrecentlydemonstratedinTheOldManandtheSea,andfortheinfluencethathehasexertedoncontemporarystyle(TheNobelPrizeinLiterature1954).

TheOldManandtheSeawasbasedonarealstory.Thestorywentthatinthelate1940s,uponreturnfromanearlymorningfishingtrip,Fuentes(Hemingwaysfriend)andHemingwaysawasmallboat10milesouttosea.HemingwayaskedFuentestoapproachthevesseltoseeiftheyneededhelp.Insidetheboatwereanoldmanandaboy.Asthevesselsclosed,theoldmanbeganyellingatthemwithinsultsindicatingthattheyhadscaredawaythefish.FuentesandHemingwaylookedateachotherinsurprise.Justthesame,HemingwayaskedFuentestolowerthemsomefoodanddrinkswhiletheoldmanandtheboyglaredatthem.Withoutanotherwordexchanged,thetwoboatspartedways.AccordingtoFuentes,Hemingwaybeganimmediatelytowriteinhisnotebookandlateraskedhimtofindtheoldman.ButheneverwasabletofindthefishermanthathadmadesuchanimpressiononHemingway.AfewyearsafterTheOldManandtheSeawaspublished,residentsofCojimarbelievedthattheoldfishermanthatFuentesandHemingwayranintoatseawasahumblelocalfishermantheycalledelviejoMiguel;somedescribedhisphysicalappearanceasawirySpencerTracy.

ThemajorfigureinTheOldManandtheSeawasaweather-beatenoldfishermanwhohadnogaininCubainconsecutive84days,butstillwentontofishingonthe85thdayandfinallycaughtabigmarlin.However,onhiswayhome,heencounteredalargesharkofthesiege.TheoldmanSantiagorushed,withathree-daybattlewithsharks,andfinallyhereturnedtoshorewhenheleftafishskeleton.Santiagosymbolizedbadluckinthestrugglewithsharks,buthedidnotyieldinthefaceofdoom.Althoughpeoplecanfailtemporarily,butthehumanspiritandwillareneverbeatable.Apersonisnotborntogivethebeat,youcanmakehimdestroyed,butIcouldnotbeathim.(TheOldManandtheSea89)

1.2Needforthestudy

Practicallyspeaking,TheOldManandtheSeacanprovidenumerousinspirationsforthemoderngeneration.Hemingwayisgoodatexploringtheimageofcodeherointhathesuccessfullytellsastoryofanoldfishermanslongandlonelyjourneyofstrugglewithafishandthesea.Therefore,Santiagosfinalvictoryindefeatcanbereferredtobymoderngeneration,whoshouldknowwhattheyreallyaspireafterandtrytoseeksuccess,courageandself-value.

Theoreticallyspeaking,thisheroismcangivescholarsmorehintsatstudyingTheOldManandtheSeafromnewresearchperspectives.Theymaypayattentiontothecorrelationsbetweenvictoryandfailureinacodehero.Lastbutnotleast,readerscanhaveacomprehensiveunderstandingofanewcodeheroimage.

2.Literaturereview

2.1PreviousstudiesonTheoldmanandthesea

TheOldManandtheSeawasthebestamongHemingwayslifetimeworks,whichaimedtostopthedeclinereputationafterten-yearcoldreceptionandattack.Ithasalwaysbeentheobjectofresearchersfavor.Theoldmanstoughguyimageandinvinciblefightingspiritweresothoroughlyhitoffinthisnovelandbroughtastrongspiritualshock,whichhasbeentheexampleoflearners.Sincethen,alotofChinesescholarshavedonetremendousresearchfromtheirperspectives.Thereareabouttwoperspectivesonthetheme.

QuiteafewscholarsshowtheirpraisetoSantiago.Theythinkthisoldmanisagreatheroandawinnerincompetingwithnature.Wulao(2012)makesmultilevelanalysisofthestoryplotinhisChineseversionTheOldManandtheSea.Heclaimsthatthisstoryisarepresentativeofheroismpaean.Inthenovel,theoldmanwasatdistinctdisadvantageatthebeginningbuthestilldidnotgiveup.Althoughheusedupallhisfishingtoolswhenfightingagainstthemarlinandsharks,hefinallywonwhateverinstruggleandresults.HuangYuanshen（2010）alsoshareshisideawithreadersinhistranslationthatSantiagoisagreatwinnerwhosespiritandqualitycanbeimpliedinhisappearancedescriptionTheoldmanwasthinandgaunt,withdeepwrinklesinthebackofhisneck.Thebrownblotchesofthebenevolentskincancerthesunbringsfromitsreflectiononthetropicseawereonhischeeks.Theblotchesranwelldownthesidesofhisfaceandhishandshadthedeepcreasedscarsfromhandlingheavyfishonthecords.Butnoneofthescarswerefresh.Theywereasoldaserosioninadesertwithoutasinglefish(TheOldManandtheSea5).Fromthesewords,wemayfeelsympathetictowardtheoldmanandthinkthatheistooweektocatchabigfish.ButEverythingabouthimwasoldexcepthiseyesandtheywerethesamecolorastheseaandwerecheerfulandundefeated.(TheOldManandtheSea3).Inspiteofhisoldandweekappearance,hiseyesarenotstuffybutascheerfulastheyoungmenseyesthroughwhichwecanseehisunyieldingspirit.ThiscontrastclearlyshowsSantiagosrealpersonality.YuGuangzhong(2010）regardstheoldmanasawinnerfromvariousperspectives,oneofwhichisfromthelittleboyaccompanyingSantiago.ThefamousscholarYumentionsintheprefaceinhistranslationthattheimageofwinnerofSantiagocanbeseenfromthelittleboyseyes.Heanalyzesthatthedeadfishdebriswereeighteenincheslongfromnosetotailinthelittleboyseyes.Theboysighedwithfeelinghowgreattheoldmanwas.Whentheboysawthetoolsanddiscussedontheplansoffishing,healwayslookedatSantiagoinanworshipfulmind.

However,somescholarsthoughtofSantiagoasaloser,whichisatragicfigure.HuTiEsheng(2010)claimsthatSantiagoisarepeatofGreekTragedians,whichrevealshowsmallandweakwhenhumanisinthefaceoffate.ThebrokenoldfishermanventuredfaroutintotheGulfStreamandtherehookedthebiggestmarlineverseeninthosewaters.Then,aloneandexhaustedbyhisstruggletoharpoonthegiantfish,hewasforcedintoalosingbattlewithmaraudingsharks.Theylefthimnothingbuttheskeletonofhiscatch.CaoJimin(1996）holdsthatSantiagoisaloser,whichinfactisthemartyrJesusChristinChristian.Heanalyzesthatinthisnovel,therearetwoscenesthattheoldmanwasbeencrucified.Thefirstonewaswhentheoldmancaughtthebigfishandittowedtheboatandhim.Thefeltpainwhentheropestrangledhisback.ThiswasametaphorthatJesusChristcarriedtheLatinCrossontheshouldertoCalvary.Thesecondwaswhenthesharksbegantoattack.Inthecourseofharpooningfishes,SantiagoshoutedAy,whichwasafeelingthatoneshandsseemedtobeprickedwithharpoons.Italsoametaphorthattheoldman,asaincarnation,wascrucifiedagain.Wulao(2010),thoughregardstheleadingcharacterasawinner,alsoanalyzesthenameofthehero.ThenameofSantiagooriginatedfromSpanish.SantiagowasoneoftheearliestfourdisciplesofJesus.

2.2Previousstudiesonheroism.

Theconceptofheroism,likesomanyothers,isahigh-levelabstraction--itisprimarilyamoralconcept--andrequiresarationalphilosophicalsystem,includingtheprincipleofmind--bodyintegration,asitproperbase.However,heroismcomesfromhero.Aheroisapersonorcharacterinliteraturewho,inthefaceofdangerandadversityorfromapositionofweakness,displayscourageorself--sacrifice--thatisheroism--forsomegreatgood.Wemustnoticethefourcomponentsofheroism:moralgreatness,abilityandprowess,actioninthefaceofoppositionandtriumphinaspiritualform.Theheroisonewhoholdrationalvaluesandfightsforthem,ifnecessary,againsteveryconceivableformofopposition.Byitsnature,itisreservedforthemansetapartandfortheselectfewwhotowerabovetherest.Toattainthisstatus,onemustreachthepeakofhumanmorality--anunalterablecommitmenttorationalvalues,inaction,intheteethofoppositionthatwoulddismayalesserman.ArthurAshe(2011)onceexpressedhisideathattrueheroismwasremarkablysober,veryundramatic.Itwasnottheurgetosurpassallothersatwhatevercost,buttheurgetoserveothersatwhatevercost.

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