南开大学 外国语学院 美国文学课件美国文学史《白鲸》课堂展示版.docx

南开大学 外国语学院 美国文学课件美国文学史《白鲸》课堂展示版.docx

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南开大学外国语学院美国文学课件美国文学史《白鲸》课堂展示版

HermanMelville

MELVILLE'SLIFE

HermanMelvillewasborninNewYorkCityonAugust1,1819,toAllanMelvill（ashisfatherspelledhisname）andMariaGansevoortMelvill.Bothsidesofthefamilywerequitewelloff,andcouldevenbecalled"aristocratic"inasense;hisfathercamefromalineofsuccessfulmerchants,andhismotherfromHudsonValleylandholders.Hischildhoodwasasecureandcomfortableone,buthisfortuneschangedin1830,whenhisfathersufferedseriousbusinesslosses.InJanuary,1832,AllanMelvilldied,mentallyandphysicallyexhausted.Melvillehadidolizedhisfather,andhisdeathwasaprofoundshock.Forseveralyearsthereafter,thefamilywasinafinancialtwilight,neverdestitute（一贫如洗）butneversecure.

Duringthisdifficultperiod,Melville'sfamilymovedupstateinNewYork,toalittletownnearTroy.Hiseducationwasspotty（非系统的）;heattendedtheAlbanyClassicalSchool（Albany学校）foratime,butduringtheseformativeyears（少年时代）hehadnoconsistentschooling.Hismother,aratherdomineeringwoman,becameevenmoreoverbearing（verydomineering）afterher

husband'sdeath,andherinfluence（combinedwiththestrictCalvinismoftheDutchReformedChurch（荷兰归正新教教会）,towhichshebelonged）seemstohaveinspiredinMelvillesomeofthereligiousskepticismandrebelliousness（激发起对宗教的怀疑及反叛精神）thatrunsunderthesurfaceof（在…中隐约可见）MobyDickandothersofhisworks.Melvilledevelopedinhismatureyearsafeeling（产生了一种感觉,即:

）thatnoprofoundmindcouldoverlookasenseoffatefulimperfectioninlife（任何思想深邃的人都不能忽视生活中的一种命中注定的缺陷感）（onesensesthisattitudefrequentlyinMobyDick）,whichwasprobablytheresultoftheverystrongCalvinisticideaoforiginalsin.

Wheneighteenyearsold,hetookajobasaschoolmasterataremoteschoolnearPittsfield,Massachusetts（wherehisuncle'sfamilylived）.Then,inthesummerof1839,hesignedupasa"boy"（干杂活的伙计）onaBritishmerchantship,theSt.Lawrence,andwentonaround-tripvoyage（往返航程）toLiverpool--avoyagewhichheusedasthebasisforhisfourthbook,Redburn（1849）.ThistripbeganfortheyoungMelvilleaperiodofalmostfiveyearsoftravelingaroundtheworldthatgavehimthematerialforhisfirstseveralbooks,,includingMobyDick（《白鲸记》）.

UponreturningtotheUnitedStatesaftertheSt.Lawrencevoyage,Melvilleagaintaughtschoolforawhile,butevidentlyhehaddevelopedaloveforthesea.ForinJanuary,1841,hesignedonthewhalerAcushnet（与捕鲸船Acushnet签约）foratriptotheSouthSeas.Lifeaboardthewhalerrepelled（使…厌倦,反感）Melville,however,andinJuly,1842,heandanotherseaman,RichardGreene（"Toby"inthenovelTypee）（小说《泰比》中人物Toby的原型）desertedship（开小差，不辞而别）attheMarquesasIslands（马克萨斯群岛）.Helivedforamonthwithacannibaltribe（食人肉部落）whichtreatedhimwellbutwouldnotlethimgo.ThenheescapedonanAustralianwhaler,theLucyAnn,whichheabandoned（溜走）atTahiti.（塔希提岛）Thereheworkedforatimeasafieldlaborer（干临时农活的短工）andeventuallyleftonanotherwhaler（搭乘捕鲸船离开）,theNantucketship（Nantucket岛的名为…的捕鲸船）CharlesandHenry,whicharrivedattheHawaiianIslands（夏威夷群岛）inApril,1843.TheadventuresofthesemonthsintheMarquesasandTahitiwerethematerialsoutofwhichMelvillelatershaped（成为…的素材）Typee（1846）andOmoo（（欧穆,1847）.AtHawaiiMelvillesignedupasaseamanonanAmericanwarship,theUnitedStates,whichreturnedhimtoAmerica.HewasdismissedinOctoberof1844,andreturnedhometobeginwriting.

HepublishedTypeeandOmoo,andthen,in1849,abookcalledMardi（《玛地》），aconfusedanddifficultallegoricalnovel（寓言型小说）whichrepelledmanyofthereaderswhohadsoenjoyedhisfirsttwobooks.（Mardiistodayoftenconsideredthefirstinatrilogy（三部曲）whichalsoincludesMobyDickandPierre《皮埃尔》.）Laterin1849cametheabove-mentioned

Redburn,andin1850MeivillepublishedWhite-Jacket《白外衣》,abookbasedonhisexperiencesontheMan-of-WarUnitedStates（名为Man-of-War的美国军舰）.Thesefirst

fivebookswonhimconsiderablereputation（whichhelaterrepudiated（对上述名誉拒不接受）;inalettertoHawthorneheironicallylamented（以讥讽的语气哀叹道）thatheseemeddoomedtobeacceptedonlyas"aman-whohadlivedamongthecannibals"）.HebecameamemberoftheinfluentialNewYorkliterarygroup（颇有影响的纽约文学社）ledbytheDuyckinckbrothers,andforatimewaslionized（被尊为盟主）.In1849hetraveledtoEnglandtoarrangeforforeignpublicationofhisworks,andin1850hemovedtoafarmhousenearPittsfield,Massachusetts,wherehelivedforthenextthirteenyearswithhiswife（ElizabethShaw,whomhemarriedin1847）andchildren.

Duringhisfirstyearathishome,whichhenamed"Arrowhead,"（他为这座房子命名为“箭头”）MelvillemetNathanielHawthorne,andthetwomen,sensingthattheyhadmuchincommon,struckupafriendship.Itwasasingularlyfortunateassociation（与…结交是件难得的幸事）forMelville,eventhoughitwasatrulypersonaloneonlyforabouttwoyears.HereadHawthorne'sworksavidly（如饥似渴地）,andwasgivenencouragementbyHawthorne'sinterest（霍桑对该书的兴趣给了他很大鼓励）preciselyduringtheperiodinwhichhewaswritinghismasterpiece,MobyDick.Asaresultofhishighesteem（高度敬仰）forHawthorne,Melvillededicated（题献）MobyDicktohimwhenitappearedinlate1851.

ThecriticalreactiontoMobyDickwasmixed,buttendedtobenegative,especiallyastimepassed.ThatMelvillehimselfseemstohavefeltthatthebookhadfailedisclearfromhisnextnovel,Pierre（1852）作者本人似乎也觉得MobyDick是个败笔,这点可以清楚地从他的下一本书中看到,aniconoclasticbook（谴责性的著作）whichangrilyattacks,amongotherthings,publishingpractices（愤怒抨击了出版界的种种恶习）.Pierre,likeMobyDick,embodiesaquestfortruth（体现了对真理的追求）,butitwascondemnedasobscure（被指责为晦涩难懂）,anditsuseofincestandsuicide（其中的乱伦与自杀的描写）causedittobeattackedasimmoralaswell.Melville'sreputationwasbythistimedefinitelyonthedecline.Inthenextseveralyears,heproducedIsraelPotter（《依斯瑞尔﹒波特》，1855）,ThePiazzaTales（《广场故事》，1855）,andTheConfidence-Man（《骗子》，1857）,anextremelyinterestingbutdifficultmoralallegory（劝戒性质的寓言小说）whichtakesplaceonaMississippiRiversteamboat.Hefellmoreandmoreindebt（债台愈筑愈高）duringtheseyears,andin1856,sufferingfromwhatwouldbecalledanervousbreakdown（精神崩溃）today,wentonatouroftheHolyLand（圣地巴勒斯坦）whichrestoredhimfromhisstateofmentalexhaustion.

In1863hesoldhishomeandmovedtoNewYorkCity,andin1866,afteryearsofseekingagovernmentjob,hefinallysecuredaminorpositionintheNewYorkcustomshouse.ThesameyearhepublishedBattlePieces《战争诗篇》andAspectsoftheWar《战争所见》（thebestpoetryontheAmericanCivilWarexceptforWhitman'sDrumTaps惠特曼的《哀鼓》）.Tenyearslater,in1876,hepublishedClarel，《克拉瑞尔》along,reflectivenarrativepoem（反思性叙事长诗）abouttheproblemsofreligiousfaith（宗教信仰问题）.Twomorebooksofpoemswerepublishedinhislifetime:

JohnMarrandOtherSailors（《约翰﹒玛尔和其他水手》，1888）andTimoleon（《梯摩里昂》，1891）.Theselastthreevolumesofpoetrywereprivatelyfinanced（自费印刷发行）andprintedinsmalleditions.MelvillefinishedthemanuscriptofBillyBudd（《毕利﹒伯德》）in1891,butthisworkwasnotpublisheduntil1924.HediedonSeptember28,1891,socompletelyobscure（默默无闻）thatmanyweresurprisedtodiscoverthathehadnotbeen

deadforyears.

BRIEFSUMMARYOFMOBYDICK

MobyDickistoldbyamanwhoidentifieshimselfonlyasIshmael.Impelledbyanurgetoseemoreoftheworldandunderstandmoreofitsmysteries,Ishmaeldecidestogotosea.HeleavesNewYorkandtravelstoNewBedford,Massachusetts,wherehespendsanightwithaSouthSeascannibal（食人生番）namedQueequegasaroommate.AtfirstfrightenedbyQueequeg,Ishmaelsoonfindshimlikeableenough.

WhileatNewBedford,Ishmaelgoestoafamouswhaleman'schapel（捕鲸水手常去的教堂）whosepastor（牧师）,FatherMapple,iswidelyknowninthewhalingfleet（捕鲸船队）.FatherMapplepreachesasermon（做布道）whichfocusesonthestoryofJonahandthewhale（约拿与鲸鱼）,inwhichheemphasizesthatmanmustrejecthisownpride（远离自傲）andbetruetoGod,lettingnootherforceguidehim.IshmaelandQueequegbecomefastfriendsatNewBedford,anddecidetogotoNantucketIslandandsignonthesamewhaleshiptogether.Theytakeapacketboat（搭乘一条班船）,andonthetriptoNantucket,Queequegsavesanobnoxiouslout（智商低下的人）fromdrowningintheicywaters.（Thisisthefirstofanumberofscenesinwhichmenaresavedfromdrowning.）AtNantucket,QueequegtellsIshmaelthathisgodhasdecidedthatIshmaelmustchoosetheshiponwhichtheywillsail,andIshmaelchoosesthePequodbecauseitissopicturesque（外表漂亮）.Bothmensignon,andaretoldthattheship'scaptainisAhab,anunusualmanbutonewho"hashishumanities."（有自己独特的人情味）Heisconfinedathishomebecauseofsomemysterioussickness,soIshmaelcannotseehim.AsIshmaelandQueequegleavetheshiptheyareaccostedby（有人向他们打招呼）aqueeroldmanwhodropsdarkhintsaboutAhab（暗示了Ahab种种神秘）.

Theshipsailsonacold,grayChristmasday.AsthetwomenapproachthePequod,theyseeagroupofshadowyfiguresboardtheshipbeforethem（看到一伙模模糊糊的人影在前面上了船）.TheshipplungesoutintotheAtlanticandformanydaysnothingisseenofAhab.Ishmaelpresentsthethreemates（三位高级船员，大副，二副和三副）,Starbuck,Stubb,andFlask,thentheharpooners（标枪手）,andthendescribesthecrewingeneral.TheshipsailsdowntheAtlanticintoawarmerclimate,andAhabfinallymakesanappearance.Astimepasses,Ahabappearsmorefrequently,usuallystandinginoneoftwoholes（通常站在后甲板的两处有洞的地方之一）drilledonthequarter-deckforhispeglegofwhalebone（那两个洞是为了方便他固定他那条用鲸骨做的假肢钻的）.AscenebetweenAhabandthesecondmate（二副）,Stubb,showsthatsomethingisdisturbingAhabprofoundly.

Ishmaeltellsthereadersomethingof