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摘 要:以狄更斯的长篇小说《远大前程》和希区柯克的著名电影《惊魂记》为例,对两部作品中戏剧反讽手法的应用进行对比分析。同时,紧扣电影语言和文本语言在叙事手段、技巧等方面的差异,对该修辞手法所营造的悬念与悬念受众心理状态的契合度,以及随之产生的审美效果进行系统分析和阐述。旨在通过比较研究,在悬念营造的创作过程中提高上述技法的应用水平,从而更好地展现作品内涵,表达作品主题,充分发挥其应有的社会意义。
关键词:戏剧反讽;狄更斯;希区柯克;电影语言;文本语言
1、Introduction
In recent years,critics have pursued,from various perspectives and with differing purpose,the study of the interrelationship of and mutual influence between literature and another form of artistic expression-film. Both as forms of narrative art,literature tends to create images and sounds in reader's mind,and film presents a simultaneous composition that combines sight and sound with movement. Even though film is essentially a visual experience and literature a linguistic one,they persist on the same goal-telling a story. Among those genres of story-telling,it is suspense that compels the viewers' uninterrupted attention,that creates and then keeps up their emotion,and sustains their tension throughout.
Dramatic irony,as an efficient rhetorical figure which serves for suspense-creation,is surely worth observing. The purpose of this thesis is to make a comparative study on the utilization of dramatic irony of both Dickens' novel Great Expectations and Hitchcock's film Psycho,in terms of the rhetorical criticism and the diversity of verbal and cinematic narrative and technical ingenuity. It also discusses the aesthetic performance of this rhetorical figure and the efficiency of viewer-involvement as well.
2、Literature Review
Great Expectations was first published in 1860. "Early critics had mixed reviews,but readers were so enthusiastic."[1]Modern critics have little but praise for Dickens' brilliant development of timeless themes:fear and fun,loneliness and luck,classism and social justice,humiliation and honor,such as Rosenberg's Meditating on the low:a Darwinian reading of Great Expectations. It claims that "Darwinism had a significant impact on Charles Dickens' theme of Great Expectations. Great Expectations is the first time Dickens discards the notion of heredity as the main determinant of the self". [2]Cohen's Manual conduct in Great Expectations talks about "the passages in Great Expectations which are rife with sexual overtones that conveys its theme."[3] Some focus on the characterization of Dickens,such as "A Bird in Cage:An Analysis on the Female Character Miss Havisham in Great Expectations”[4]which adopts the approach of Feminist criticism to analyze Miss Havisham’ role of victim. Others mention the style of Dickens,such as his narrative mode,like “On the Space Narration of the Great Expectations which attempts to extract typical narrative spaces of Great Expectation and classify these spaces into story aspect and non-story aspect.".[5]Another critic shows some narrative characteristics of the work "by focus on narrative structure,point of view,and narrative grammer."[6]There are also some works that "take a comparative study between Great expectations and A Rose for Emily."[7]
Psycho,as Hitchcock's chef d'oeuvre in suspense,is undoubtedly a text-book sample of audience manipulation of "manipulating the audience's fears and desires,and taking them into a state of association with the representation of reality facing the characters."[8]
Among all the critics,most of them make research on the theme and characterization of both works with different perspectives,such as Myth and Archetypal Criticism,Psychoanalytical Criticism,Marxist Criticism,Feminist Criticism,etc. while the researches of their style and genre mainly adopt the perspective of formalist criticism,narratology,structuralist criticism,reader-response criticism,and film-making techniques,etc. When it comes to the study of comparative literature study of them,a few critics compare Great Expectations with Faulkner's work,and some compare Hitchcock's film with other directors' works. In short,few critics analysis both works with rhetorical criticism and there is still no critic who makes interdisciplinary study on the similarities and differences of both this novel and film.
3、Theoretical Framework
In the interview between Hitchcock and Truffaut,Hitchcock reveals the secret of suspense. Paraphrased as follows:in real life,two people are talking and a bomb goes off,shocking but no suspense. However,imagine that the audience know there is a bomb under a table between them and it will go off in three minutes,while the two people go on talking without any forewarning. Now,to the audience,their conversation means nothing,but the audience keep screaming at them,"Check under table",and that is suspense. In other words,suspense is generated when the audience perceive that danger or truth is approaching,while the characters in the story know nothing about their impending doom,which is called dramatic irony. According to the theory of rhetorical criticism,it is served for evoking the viewer's anxiety and sympathy towards the character in the story by sharing his\\her concerns,experiencing his\\her fears,frustrations. If the character is the very person whom the viewers pity and with whom they share some obscure dread,they become extremely susceptible to his\\her feelings.
To create suspense,Dickens and Hitchcock are infatuated with dramatic irony by playing the game of revealment,concealment and entrapment with their viewers.
4、A Comparative Study on dramatic irony of Both Works
In Great Expectations,Dickens artfully uses dramatic irony to hint at some dark secrets,to sweep readers into a suspenseful and gothic vortex of atmosphere,to trap them into a sort of intimate inner-connection with characters in the story by means of symbols,and the reader unites himself\\herself in all characters. Furthermore,the suspense in the story is no longer other's affair,but is closely related to reader himself\\herself,and becomes his\\her own personal duty to worry,to experience,to handle.
The misty marshes,as one of the most evocative symbols,are used several times to symbolize danger and uncertainty,or example,whenever Pip goes into the mists,something dangerous is likely to happen. With this knowledge,readers always can perceive the unfortunate fate of the characters and becomes extremely anxious with the character.
Similarly,the readers know that the half-mad Miss Havisham who relates to a series of symbols has been motivated only by self-pity and revenge before the hero Pip. Obviously,she raises Estella to be a breaker of men's hearts by intentionally misleading Pip into believing that she is his benefactor and by giving him false hope in his pursuit of Estella. As the plot develops,readers learns the looming truth that Pip's great expectations are only something disillusioned but what they've no alternative but just to watch Pip's suffering with deep anxious,concern and sympathy.
关键词:戏剧反讽;狄更斯;希区柯克;电影语言;文本语言
1、Introduction
In recent years,critics have pursued,from various perspectives and with differing purpose,the study of the interrelationship of and mutual influence between literature and another form of artistic expression-film. Both as forms of narrative art,literature tends to create images and sounds in reader's mind,and film presents a simultaneous composition that combines sight and sound with movement. Even though film is essentially a visual experience and literature a linguistic one,they persist on the same goal-telling a story. Among those genres of story-telling,it is suspense that compels the viewers' uninterrupted attention,that creates and then keeps up their emotion,and sustains their tension throughout.
Dramatic irony,as an efficient rhetorical figure which serves for suspense-creation,is surely worth observing. The purpose of this thesis is to make a comparative study on the utilization of dramatic irony of both Dickens' novel Great Expectations and Hitchcock's film Psycho,in terms of the rhetorical criticism and the diversity of verbal and cinematic narrative and technical ingenuity. It also discusses the aesthetic performance of this rhetorical figure and the efficiency of viewer-involvement as well.
2、Literature Review
Great Expectations was first published in 1860. "Early critics had mixed reviews,but readers were so enthusiastic."[1]Modern critics have little but praise for Dickens' brilliant development of timeless themes:fear and fun,loneliness and luck,classism and social justice,humiliation and honor,such as Rosenberg's Meditating on the low:a Darwinian reading of Great Expectations. It claims that "Darwinism had a significant impact on Charles Dickens' theme of Great Expectations. Great Expectations is the first time Dickens discards the notion of heredity as the main determinant of the self". [2]Cohen's Manual conduct in Great Expectations talks about "the passages in Great Expectations which are rife with sexual overtones that conveys its theme."[3] Some focus on the characterization of Dickens,such as "A Bird in Cage:An Analysis on the Female Character Miss Havisham in Great Expectations”[4]which adopts the approach of Feminist criticism to analyze Miss Havisham’ role of victim. Others mention the style of Dickens,such as his narrative mode,like “On the Space Narration of the Great Expectations which attempts to extract typical narrative spaces of Great Expectation and classify these spaces into story aspect and non-story aspect.".[5]Another critic shows some narrative characteristics of the work "by focus on narrative structure,point of view,and narrative grammer."[6]There are also some works that "take a comparative study between Great expectations and A Rose for Emily."[7]
Psycho,as Hitchcock's chef d'oeuvre in suspense,is undoubtedly a text-book sample of audience manipulation of "manipulating the audience's fears and desires,and taking them into a state of association with the representation of reality facing the characters."[8]
Among all the critics,most of them make research on the theme and characterization of both works with different perspectives,such as Myth and Archetypal Criticism,Psychoanalytical Criticism,Marxist Criticism,Feminist Criticism,etc. while the researches of their style and genre mainly adopt the perspective of formalist criticism,narratology,structuralist criticism,reader-response criticism,and film-making techniques,etc. When it comes to the study of comparative literature study of them,a few critics compare Great Expectations with Faulkner's work,and some compare Hitchcock's film with other directors' works. In short,few critics analysis both works with rhetorical criticism and there is still no critic who makes interdisciplinary study on the similarities and differences of both this novel and film.
3、Theoretical Framework
In the interview between Hitchcock and Truffaut,Hitchcock reveals the secret of suspense. Paraphrased as follows:in real life,two people are talking and a bomb goes off,shocking but no suspense. However,imagine that the audience know there is a bomb under a table between them and it will go off in three minutes,while the two people go on talking without any forewarning. Now,to the audience,their conversation means nothing,but the audience keep screaming at them,"Check under table",and that is suspense. In other words,suspense is generated when the audience perceive that danger or truth is approaching,while the characters in the story know nothing about their impending doom,which is called dramatic irony. According to the theory of rhetorical criticism,it is served for evoking the viewer's anxiety and sympathy towards the character in the story by sharing his\\her concerns,experiencing his\\her fears,frustrations. If the character is the very person whom the viewers pity and with whom they share some obscure dread,they become extremely susceptible to his\\her feelings.
To create suspense,Dickens and Hitchcock are infatuated with dramatic irony by playing the game of revealment,concealment and entrapment with their viewers.
4、A Comparative Study on dramatic irony of Both Works
In Great Expectations,Dickens artfully uses dramatic irony to hint at some dark secrets,to sweep readers into a suspenseful and gothic vortex of atmosphere,to trap them into a sort of intimate inner-connection with characters in the story by means of symbols,and the reader unites himself\\herself in all characters. Furthermore,the suspense in the story is no longer other's affair,but is closely related to reader himself\\herself,and becomes his\\her own personal duty to worry,to experience,to handle.
The misty marshes,as one of the most evocative symbols,are used several times to symbolize danger and uncertainty,or example,whenever Pip goes into the mists,something dangerous is likely to happen. With this knowledge,readers always can perceive the unfortunate fate of the characters and becomes extremely anxious with the character.
Similarly,the readers know that the half-mad Miss Havisham who relates to a series of symbols has been motivated only by self-pity and revenge before the hero Pip. Obviously,she raises Estella to be a breaker of men's hearts by intentionally misleading Pip into believing that she is his benefactor and by giving him false hope in his pursuit of Estella. As the plot develops,readers learns the looming truth that Pip's great expectations are only something disillusioned but what they've no alternative but just to watch Pip's suffering with deep anxious,concern and sympathy.