關於英語閱讀參考

Roger Rosenblatt’s book Black Fiction, in attempting to apply literary rather than sociopolitical criteria to its subject, successfully alters the approach taken by most previous studies. As Rosenblatt notes, criticism of Black writing has often served as a pretext for expounding on Black history. Addison Gayle’s recent work, for example, judges the value of Black fiction by overtly political standards, rating each work according to the notions of Black identity which it propounds.

關於英語閱讀參考

Although fiction assuredly springs from political circumstances, its authors react to those circumstances in ways other than ideological(意識形態=政治), and talking about novels and stories primarily as instruments of ideology circumvents much of the fictional enterprise(成就). Rosenblatt’s literary analysis discloses affinities and connections among works of Black fiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored.

Writing acceptable criticism of Black fiction, however, presupposes giving satisfactory answers to a number of questions. First of all, is there a sufficient reason, other than the facial identity of the authors, to group together works by Black authors? Second, how does Black fiction make itself distinct from other modern fiction with which it is largely contemporaneous? Rosenblatt shows that Black fiction constitutes a distinct body of writing that has an identifiable, coherent literary tradition. Looking at novels written by Black over the last eighty years, he discovers recurring concerns and designs independent of chronology. These structures are thematic, and they spring, not surprisingly, from the central fact that the Black characters in these novels exist in a predominantly white culture, whether they try to conform to that culture or rebel against it.

Black Fiction does leave some aesthetic questions open. Rosenblatt’s thematic analysis permits considerable objectivity; he even explicitly states that it is not his intention to judge the merit of the various works — yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results. For instance, some of the novels appear to be structurally diffuse. Is this a defect, or are the authors working out of, or trying to forge, a different kind of aesthetic? In addition, the style of some Black novels, like Jean Toomer’s Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does this technique provide a counterpoint to the prevalent theme that portrays the fate against which Black heroes are pitted, a theme usually conveyed by more naturalistic modes of expression?

In spite of such omissions, what Rosenblatt does include in his discussion makes for an astute and worthwhile study. Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringing to our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Its argument is tightly constructed, and its forthright, lucid style exemplifies levelheaded and penetrating criticism.

1. The author of the text is primarily concerned with

[A] evaluating the soundness(合理性) of a work of criticism.

[B] comparing various critical approaches to a subject.

[C] discussing the limitations of a particular kind of criticism.

[D] summarizing the major points made in a work of criticism.

2. The author of the text believes that Black Fiction would have been improved had Rosenblatt

[A] evaluated more carefully the ideological and historical aspects of Black fiction.

[B] attempted to be more objective in his approach to novels and stories by Black authors.

[C] explored in greater detail the recurrent thematic concerns of Black fiction throughout its history.

[D] assessed the relative literary merit of the novels he analyzes thematically.

3. The author’s discussion of Black Fiction can be best described as

[A] pedantic and contentious.

[B] critical but admiring.

[C] ironic and deprecating.

[D] argumentative but unfocused.

4. The author of the text employs all of the following in the discussion of Rosenblatt’s book EXCEPT:

[A] rhetorical questions.

[B] specific examples.

[C] comparison and contrast.

[D] definition of terms.

5. The author of the text refers to James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an ExColored Man most probably

in order to

[A] point out affinities between Rosenblatt’s method of thematic analysis and earlier criticism.

[B] clarify the point about expressionistic style made earlier in the passage.

[C] qualify the assessment of Rosenblatt’s book made in the first paragraph of the passage.

[D] give a specific example of one of the accomplishments of Rosenblatt’s work.

[參考譯文]

羅傑·羅森布萊特的著作《黑人小說》,試圖運用文學的而不是社會政治的標準來研究黑人小說,這成功地改變了大多數早先研究的方法。如羅森布萊特所注意到的,黑人著作的評論經常被充當爲一種闡述黑人歷史的藉口。例如,阿狄森·蓋爾的最新著作,就用了公開的政治標準來判定黑人小說的價值,按照作品中所提出的黑人個體的各觀念對每個作品進行評價。

雖然小說確實是源於政治環境,但作者反映這些環境的方法是非意識形態的,如把小說和故事的討論作爲意識形態的工具,則會忽視了許多小說的成就。羅森·布萊特對黑人文學的分析揭示了黑人小說著作間的密切關係和聯繫,而純粹政治研究中忽視了這些聯繫。

然而寫出爲人所接受的黑人小說評論的前提是要對許多問題做出令人滿意的回答。首先,除了這些作家的種族身份外,是否有充分的理由可將黑人作家的作品歸於一類?其次,黑人小說如何將自己和其他現代小說分開?它們大半屬於同一時代的作品。羅森布萊特的研究闡明瞭黑人小說已構成了一個與衆不同的作品羣體,它們具有可識別的、連貫的文學傳統。着眼於最近八十年黑人創作的'小說,羅森布萊特揭示了小說中與時代無關而反覆出現的側重點和佈局。這些結構與主題相關,並不讓人感到驚奇的是,它們源於這樣一箇中心事實,即小說中的黑人生存在一個白人文化支配的環境中,不管他們試圖迎合這一文化還是反叛這一文化。

《黑人小說》確實對一些美學的問題沒有給予回答,羅森布萊特的主題分析允許相當的客觀性;他甚至直言,對各個作品的優劣判定不是他工作的意圖——然而他的猶豫看起來是不合時宜的,尤其是因爲嘗試評定可能會導致一些有趣的結果。例如,一些小說所顯示的結構散漫冗長。這是否是一個缺陷,或者是作者這樣做是出於一種美學考慮,還是作者試圖創造一種不同類的美學?另外,象金·圖莫的《手杖》那樣的黑人小說風格,近於表現主義和超現實主義;難道這個技巧只是用更自然主義的表現方式爲表達流行的黑人英勇反抗命運的主題提供一個對應物嗎?

儘管存在這些遺漏,羅森布萊特所做的包括他的討論,已包括了足以構成精明而有價值的研究內容。《黑人小說》考察了廣泛的小說,在此過程中我們的注意力被吸引到一些引人入勝但鮮爲人知的作品上,如詹姆士·威爾頓·約翰遜的《一個曾是有色人的自傳》。這本書的主題結構緊密,直率、明晰的風格例示了一種冷靜而敏銳的文學評論。