英语专业论义文英语谚语中的别歧视研究

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1、英语谚语中的性别歧视研究 作者：赵俊 学号：09080230 指导教师：刘萍摘 要：语言如同一面镜子，真实地反映了各种社会习俗、价值观念。谚语作为语言的精髓，浓缩了文化的内涵。它源远流长，历经一代又一代的传承。它来源于人们日常的生活经验，故能清楚地显现生活中的种种社会现象。因此，透过英语谚语探索性别歧视这一社会现象更具代表性和说服力。本文从社会语言学角度出发，运用总结归纳法从三大方向和七个小点阐述了性别歧视在英语谚语中的具体体现，并从历史、生理和心理三个方面探究这一现象产生的原因。关键词：英语；性别语言；谚语；性别歧视On the Polyphonic Features ofTo the Li

2、ghthouseAuthor: Hu Yanling Number: 09080605 Tutor: Guo XiaochunAbstract: To the Lighthouse is one of the most prominent works of the British novelist Virginia Woolf. Previous studies on the novel have focused on her feminist thoughts, poetic style, and stream-of-consciousness techniques. In fact, Wo

3、olf has made full use of the synchronic characteristics of polyphony, bringing a symphonic sound effect of multiple voice parts to the novel. The theory of polyphony is proposed by Mikhail Bakhtin when he researches the works of the Russian writer Dostoevsky. According to Bakhtin, many independent a

4、nd unmerged voices and valuable consciousness in a work compose the true polyphony. He borrows the musical term polyphony to describe such multiple-voiced phenomenon in the creation of the novel. This thesis begins with analysis of the polyphonic theory, and discusses emphatically the typical polyph

5、onic features dialogism, heteroglossia and unfinalizability, which are embodied in To the Lighthouse, then reveals the polyphony of the structure, theme and the image of Mrs. Ramsay in the novel, so as to excavate the artistic value of the novel.Keywords: Virginia Woolf; To the Lighthouse; polyphony

6、 I Introduction Virginia Woolf, a distinguished female writer, is regarded as one of the literary giants in the history of English literature of the 20th century. She is a great pioneer and innovator in the field of modern fiction. To the Lighthouse is generally regarded, along with Jacobs Room, Mrs

7、. Dalloway and The Waves, as one of Woolfs formally experimental novels. Since its publication in 1930s, it has been the favourite of both the author herself and literary critics. When she finished it, Woolf said, My present opinion is that it is easily the best of my books (Evans, 1989: 101). Over

8、the past three decades, To the Lighthouse has been studied from varied theoretical perspectives, including postmodernism, feminism, new criticism, psychoanalysis, and historical and social context.II A Brief Survey of Polyphony The word polyphony originates from an ancient Greek word poliphonia, and

9、 poli refers to many, phonia means voice, and thus the initial meaning of polyphony is many voices. At the beginning, it is used as a musical concept, which describes the music composed of several independent tunes or multiplevoice, each distinct while connected harmoniously, and each voice shares t

10、he equal position. It is quite different from the monophony which characterizes the only one dominant voice accompanied by chords. Borrowed from the music, the term polyphony is adopted as a possible fictional mode, which is completely different from the monologic authoritative discourse. 2.1 Mikhai

11、l Bakhtin and Theory of the Polyphonic Novel As one of the greatest Russian ideologists in the 20th century, Mikhail Bakhtins contribution to the literature is so great that the study on his literary heritage has formed a worldwide academic activity. To research him and his ideology further, even an

12、 independent school has been established named as Bakhtin studies, or bakhtinology. Bakhtin creates and proposes a large quantity of golden and significant ideas all his life, and the polyphony can be considered as the most representative and brilliant one.Nowadays, many Bakhtin school theorists sta

13、rt to emphasize their study focus on the concrete utterances of people in special social contexts, and they are interested in the study of word or language in real social background. Actually, the word is always accompanied by a dialogue, while the dialogue and the stretch of discourse is just the b

14、asic element of language in Bakhtinology. For the most representative feature of polyphony is dialogism, the theory of polyphonic theory can be interpreted and supplemented unceasingly by many other great theorists.With the publication of the Problems of Dostoevskys Poetics, the theory of polyphony

15、was introduced formally. According to Bakhtin, the polyphonic novel can represent a multiplicity of voices or ideas to a large extent, and it is only the polyphony owns the ability to give the characters freedom. That is to say, Bakhtin has found a whole new polyphonic realm.2.2 The Typical Features

16、 of the Polyphonic NovelAccording to Bakhtin, the reader can hear many competing voices in the polyphonic novel, and these voices all joined the dialogues. They announced their own opinions equally, and there is never final word in the story. The voices own their right to oppose the authors control.

17、 They are free and stands with the writer together, then the author here is more like another hero, he knows nothing about what the characters do next, sometimes, he might even be surprised by the heros words and dialogues now and then. Bakhtin points that Dostoevsky, like Goethes Prometheus, create

18、s not voiceless slaves (as does Zeus), but free people, capable of standing alongside their creator, capable of not agreeing with him, and even of rebelling against him (Bakhtin, 1984: 6). In order to make the substance of polyphony clearer, Bakhtin defines several characteristics to distinguish the

19、 polyphonic novel from other literary forms. Among these features, the most typical ones are dialogism, heteroglossia and unfinalizability.2.2.1 Dialogism Dialogism as the most representative characteristic of the polyphonic novel, especially displays Bakhtins point of view on the worlds existing st

20、ate, composing code and the whole process of its creation. According to Bakhtin, the truth was presented in the dialogic relationship between the characters. The dialogic communication exists here and there; they appear in the human daily life and all the consciousness. In other words, when the cons

21、ciousness begins, the dialogue begins with it, and all the relationships among the internal and external parts are dialogic. It can be said that a whole polyphonic novel is a great dialogue.2.2.2 Heteroglossia In the polyphonic novel, the voice or the language is the real symbol of the character. Th

22、e readers can only hear them, but not read them. These voices and languages not only represent the heros opinions on some trifles in the daily life, they also express the convictions or point of view on the world (Bakhtin, 1984: 78). This many-voicedness is named as Heteroglossia, and it is an absol

23、ute indispensable characteristic for any polyphonic novel.2.2.3 Unfinalizability In a polyphonic novel, dialogue exists everywhere, and the dialogic relationship is unfinished, with no genuine end, such characteristics thus make the readers notice another feature of polyphony, that is, unfinalizabil

24、ity. As the last characteristic of the polyphonic novel, it is actually determined by the previous two features, that is to say, unfinalizability is the requirement for dialogism and heteroglossia, especially for dialogism. Bakhtin once claimed that the dialogue is the minimum requirement for existi

25、ng of people and their consciousness, and if the dialogue continues, then everything cannot end. III The Embodiment of Polyphony in To the Lighthouse In this part, the polyphonic features of To the Lighthouse will be discussed in depth, and Id like to give a detailed analysis of it through three asp

26、ects, they are the polyphony of the structure, the theme and the image of Mrs. Ramsay. 3.1 The Polyphony of the Structure In To the Lighthouse, Woolf abandons the traditional linear time-space framework, and changes the position of the authoritarian narrators with the unilateral and limited narratio

27、n. She adopts a unique symphonic structure to lead the readers into a relative free subjective world. The phenomenon of heteroglossia in the novel is mainly composed of the narrations of Mrs. Ramsay, Mr. Ramsay, the atheist Tansley, Lily Briscoe, and William Bankes and their monologues are the unmer

28、ged voices in the polyphonic realm. There are many voices form the distinguished dialogues which happening in a special time-space kingdom and such unique carnivalesque chronotope has really provided the sound background of this novel.Thus, different narrators voices and consciousness appear and col

29、lide in the polyphonic realm, for the consciousness of them is only one voice of the unfinished great dialogue. It eventually leads to the open end of the novel. In this way, the polyphonic features embodied and interpreted in this meticulous structural design. The polyphonic protagonists own the ri

30、ght to think by themselves and speak for themselves, and the writer only discusses with them equally in the novel. Therefore, it is very hard for the readers to understand the authors real intention. When we read To the Lighthouse, we may feel that various voices around us, and we may at a loss imme

31、diately. To break such mist, we should interpret all these voices as a whole, a great symphony. The story is composed of three parts. In the first part, The Ramsays are on vocation with some friends in their villa by the sea. The youngest child James puts forward a request going to the lighthouse th

32、e next day, which receives warm response from his mother, but cold and rational disapproval from his father with the weather being possibly bad as the excuse. With the flow of consciousness, the picture shifts from mother and son to other members and friends of the family and then to family dinner p

33、arty with beautiful hostess Mrs. Ramsay as the center. In the second part, the war breaks out and ten years passes in which Mrs. Ramsay passes away suddenly, her beautiful daughter Prue gets married but later dies of childbirth, and her clever son Andrew dies on the front. In the third part, the bro

34、ken family returns to the villa by the sea, and under the leadership of Mr. Ramsay, together with his two children Cam and James, they set out for the lighthouse. In To the Lighthouse, Woolf gives prominence to the characters consciousness, making the voices of them resound through the whole work, a

35、nd she, herself, fades out to the backstage. It does not mean the losing of her voice, for actually, the objective narration from the author and the subjective inner monologue proceed alternately. As a result, the voice of the author is reflected clearly, and at the same time, characters have the op

36、portunities to utter their own voices, performing a symphony of the common theme: searching for true meaning of life. The voice of the author is embodied in the construction of the frame of the novel, the prose poem like lyric sentences, and the occasional comments. The author plays the role of cond

37、uctor in the whole work. First, as the conductor of an orchestra, the author holds the piece of music as a whole. She builds the frame of the novel in physical time. Words reflecting the physical time, like ten years, evening, dinner and morning, are used to unfold the plot. However, the depictions

38、of the specifics are comparatively faint and compendious. The realities of life as birth, old age, illness and death, war, peace, and most of the contents recorded at large in traditional realistic literary works are briefly narrated by the author. Some of them are labeled in the brackets as if they

39、 are dispensable. This narrative style fully reflects the authors renovating and revolting voice to realism. What the author concerns is the spiritual world of people. Through so many sentences like she/he said, she/he thought and she/he felt, she conducts the characters to utter their own voices.Se

40、cond, the narration in the novel is full of poetic quality, especially in the second part, Time passes. The author fastens her emotions in the lyric words, in which her voice is represented best of all. For example: So with the lamps all put out, the moon sunk, and a thin rain drumming on the roof a

41、 down pouring of immense darkness began. Nothing, it seemed, could survive the flood. (Woolf, 2011: 97) So with the house empty and the doors locked and the mattresses rolled round, those stray airs. blustered in,met nothing. but only hangings that flapped, wood that creaked, the bare legs of tables

42、, saucepans and china already furred, tarnished, cracked. (Woolf, 2011:100) These depictions are dreary and gloomy. By this style, the author with emotion that the nights cannot be obstructed, and time passes with the situation changed. She conducts the orchestra to perform here in a doloroso tone c

43、olor.But what after all is one nightNight, however, succeeds to night. (Woolf, 2011: 99)Loveliness and stillness clasped hands in the bedroom.reiterating their questions-Will you fade? Will you perish?. As if the question they asked scarcely needed that they should answer: we remain. (Woolf, 2011: 1

44、00)In spring the garden urns, casually filled with wind-blown plants, were gay as ever. (Woolf, 2011: 105) Through these narrations, the plaint of the author is heard: time never ceases and life never stops; the whole life of human beings circulates without an end; only melting in the whole life of

45、human beings, can individual life obtain its eternity. It is the authors profound understanding towards life. Third, the authors voice of comment can occasionally be heard in the descriptions of the stream of consciousness of the characters. For example, in the novel, when Mrs. Ramsay shows her frie

46、ndliness to Mr. Carmichael but encounters his rejection and obviation, she begins to doubt.For her own self-satisfaction was it that she wished so instinctively to help, to give, that people might say of her, O Mrs. Ramsay! Dear Mrs. RamsayMrs. Ramsay, of course! and need her send for her and admire

47、 her? Was it not secretly this she wanted, and therefore when Mr. Carmichael shrank away from he.she did not feel merely snubbed back in her instinct, but made aware of the pettiness of some part of her, and of human relations, how flawed they are, how despicable, how self-seeking, at their best. (W

48、oolf, 2011: 32)If the reader accepts this autocriticism as a reality, the perfect figure of Mrs. Ramsay would be destroyed immediately, because once the reader find that the virtue of her to give help to others proceeds from the satisfaction of her own vanity, the image of her would be so intolerabl

49、e. However, the narration of the author has eliminated the possible danger. Through the interrogative sentence, the reader can know all of these thoughts are not the real inner thoughts of her own but her plaint to the selfish nature of the whole human beings. So, the authors praise to the character

50、s courage of making autocriticism has been reflected obviously. Examples of this kind are plenty. Space limited, unnecessary details are not given. Characters in the novel all interpret the meaning of life in their own ways. The author uses the indirect interior monologues on a large scale to lead t

51、hem uttering their voices, forming respective voice parts. 3.2 The Polyphony of the Theme The theme of a novel may be exposited in many ways, and in To the Lighthouse, Woolf adopts a unique framework to present the thematic materials, that is, the sonata. In the novel, all the characters make dialog

52、ue and all of them try to express the thoughts from their own angles and prove that their opinions are right, but they inevitably explore the same theme. This unique design thus makes the theme full of polyphonic color. The first part of the novel, The Window plays the role of exposition in sonata f

53、orm in the thematic presentation, in which Mrs. Ramsays Goddess-like beauty, benevolence and active attitude towards life make up the first theme. Time Passes in the novel corresponds with the development of the sonata form. In this part, theme exposed in the exposition is treated in new ways. They

54、are broken into fragments that can take on different and unexpected emotional meanings. The fragments are quite enough to embody the progressing of the theme and set sharp contrast with the first part of the novel.The opening of the development, Time Passes, corresponds with the end of the expositio

55、n in a darkened tone. The two chapters at the beginning have played the role of an introductory part in development. With everyone retiring in his or her room, the house sinks into flooded darkness. The wind creeps indoors and is the only movement. The air plays across objects of the housewallpaper,

56、 books, and flowers. It creeps up the stairs and continues on its way, and the same is the melody itself.From the third chapter on, the theme exposited in The Window are progressing in fragments. However, they can be seized from the much quickened passage of time. Mrs. Ramsay, the representative of

57、the first theme, the Goddess-like hostess, the peace maker, dies suddenly. However, the theme has not ceased progressing; on the contrary, the first theme gathers great energy here, pushing forward the melody. On a disordered background, it appears ever and again. There is no image bringing the nigh

58、t to order and making the world reflect the compass of the soul again (Woolf, 2011: 99). The hand dwindles in his hand; the voice bellows in his ear (Woolf, 2011: 99). The theme in this part is recollected most in Mrs. McNabs memory. While cleaning, the old woman comes across the gray cloak that Mrs

59、. Ramsay used to wear while gardening and she can imagine Mrs. Ramsay bent over her flowers with one of her children by her side. To her, Mrs. Ramsays words are still alive: Good-evening, Mrs McNab (Woolf, 2011: 105). She has a pleasant way with Mrs. McNab and the girls all like her. She is well rem

60、embered in her gray cloak. .Faint and flickering, like a yellow beam or the circle at the end of a telescope, a lady in a gray cloak, stooping over her flowers, went wandering over the bedroom wall, up the dressing-table (Woolf, 2011: 106). Faint as it is, the theme has collected a potential power t

61、o declare that the darkness, chaos and death are temporal; all of them will tick away; and with a new canto beginning, it is destined to dominate the melody again.The theme of the whole novel is enlightened in the third part To the Lighthouse. This part corresponds with recapitulation in sonata form

62、. In music theory, the recapitulation is one of the sections of a movement written in sonata form. The recapitulation occurs after the movements development section, and typically presents once more the musical themes from the movements exposition. This material is most often recapitulated in the to

63、nic key of the movement, in such a way that it reaffirms that key as the movements home key. It consists of the return of the first theme, transition, the return of the second theme, and a short codetta. The returned first theme is normally given prominence as highlight of a recapitulation, and it i

64、s usually in exactly the same key form as in the exposition, yet it undergoes some variation. Mrs. Ramsays Goddess-like beauty, benevolence and active attitude toward life make up the first theme in exposition, while in recapitulation, her indelible spiritual light is shining all the same, though it

65、 undergoes variation and it does not coincide exactly with what it appears before. Mrs. Ramsay has been dead; her spiritual light is brightly shined in Lilys memory toward her, which does not lessen its brightness, instead, sets off its rays of light, just enlightening the first theme.Memory is the vital step toward the return of harmony. It is Mrs. Ramsay who has taught Lily a valuable lesson about the nature of art. When Lily resumes her painting of Mrs. Ramsay, she remembers a day on the beach