反叛与超越--《瑞普·凡·温克尔》与美国主流精神

摘要

华盛顿•欧文的《瑞普•凡•温克尔》是美国短篇小说的开山之作。小说中一系列的二元对立体现了对自18世纪沿传至今的美国主流精神即富兰克林的实用理性与爱德华兹的宗教虔诚的质疑与反叛，同时边疆的包容性又使这些二元对立及其质疑最终得以消解。瑞普作为美国文学中的一个原型形象，代表了远离文明、热爱自然、追求自由这种超越主流精神的美国性格。%Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving marks the beginning history of American short stories. Questioning and reb ellion towards American mainstream culture since the eighteenth century, i.e. Benjamin Franklin's pragmatism and Jonathan Edwa rds's puritan piety, has been manifested through a series of binary oppositions. The opening of frontier has digested all the oppositi ons. Rip Van Winkle is a recurrent American imago that turns against civilization and pursues freedom in the wildness of frontier.