叙述策略与历史重构——评《拉格泰姆时代》

当代美国作家多克托罗的后现代历史小说《拉格泰姆时代》,主要叙述策略是"文本的历史性"和"历史的文本性",兼有其他后现代主义的叙事技巧。小说把虚构和事实杂糅,虚拟与历史并置,用语言结构来建构现实,不仅挑战历史话语的特权地位,也更为逼真地再现了历史真相。文本重述历史,对资本主义社会的政治、经济与文化等做了多方位的批评和嘲讽,面对当下,旨在未来,是一种成功的历史重构。

Narrative Strategies and the Reconstruction of History:A Case Study of "Ragtime"

Doctorow's postmodernist historical novel"Ragtime"takes use of different postmodern writing techniques,in which"historicity of text"and"textuality of history"are major strategies.Through the juxtaposition of history and fiction,mixture of historical figures with fictional characters,and construction of the fact with language structure,the fiction challenges the privileged status of historical discourse with the verisimilitude of historical truth rather than objective one.With its concern and interest in the present,the fiction not only criticizes the politics,economy and culture of capitalist society completely,but also navigates toward the future,which is a successful reconstruction of history.