欧内斯特·J·盖恩斯被认为是当代美国最有影响力的南方小说家之一。他先后出版了八部小说和一部短篇小说集。在其作品中,盖恩斯着力展现百年来美国黑人的历史和生存的现状,表达其对黑人文化的真挚情感和他对美国种族问题的思考。其中,他发表于1983年的作品《老人集合》被评论家称为是“近十年来美国关于南方种族关系写得最好的一部小说”。文章从重建男性尊严和共促种族融合两方面对该小说的主题进行分析。 Ernest J. Gaines is considered one of the most influential Southern novelists in contemporary America. He has published eight novels and a collection of short stories. In his works, Gaines endeavored to show the history and survival of American blacks in the past hundred years, expressed their sincere feelings about black culture and his thinking on American racial issues. Among them, his collection “Elder Man”, published in 1983, was described by critics as “a novel written by the United States about the ethnic relations in the South in the past decade.” The article analyzes the theme of the novel from the aspects of reconstruction of male dignity and promotion of ethnic integration.