在忧郁与乌托邦之间徘徊——论格拉斯的《蜗牛日记》

本文结合格拉斯对德国著名画家丢勒铜版画《忧郁》的议论,分析《蜗牛日记》及其附录文章,考察作品中形成强烈反差的人物形象和动物意象,勾勒作家一以贯之的基本立场:“蜗牛”象征着在“忧郁”与“乌托邦”之间徘徊者的努力,既不愿停止以笔济世的努力,又对理想主义和希望原则提出质疑。把握这种既反对断念和放弃、更拒绝醉迷和狂热的基本立场,是理解格拉斯中后期叙事作品的最重要的前提之一。

On Grass' The Snail's Diary: Wandering between Melancholia and Utopia

By analyzing Grass's The Snail's Diary together with the comments he made concerning Durer's famous copperplates, this paper will look into the contrastive human and animal images in the book and explore the writer's consistent stance in his writings. I will argue that the snail stands for a wanderer caught between melancholia and utopia, who, while questioning idealism and hope, refuses to give up his explorative writing career. Understanding his stance against resignation and abandonment to hedonism or fanaticism is one of the prerequisites for comprehending his later narrative works.