艺术与道德——《一位女士的画像》中的“如画”审美

外国文学研究 ›› 2021, Vol. 43 ›› Issue (2): 140-152.

艺术与道德——《一位女士的画像》中的“如画”审美

修立梅

出版日期:2021-04-25 发布日期:2021-04-30
作者简介:修立梅,北京大学外国语学院副教授,主要从事19世纪美国小说和英美女性作家研究。

Art and Morality: The “Picturesque” Aesthetic in The Portrait of a Lady

Xiu Limei

Online:2021-04-25 Published:2021-04-30
About author:Xiu Limei is an associate professor at the School of Foreign Languages, Peking University (Beijing 100871, China). Her research is primarily focused on 19<sup>th</sup>-century American fiction and English and American women writers. Email: xiulimei@pku.edu.cn

摘要/Abstract

内容摘要： 艺术与道德的关系一直是美国作家亨利·詹姆斯研究的重点之一,此类研究往往将唯美主义视作詹姆斯作品的重要文化背景和参照,然而,在早期代表作《一位女士的画像》中,詹姆斯对英美流行一时的“如画”审美表现出极大兴趣。女主人公伊莎贝尔的“如画”审美,尤其是其变化过程,体现了彼时的詹姆斯对艺术与道德关系所做的思考。在她的成长过程中,“如画”审美逐步显示出内在的道德维度和潜能,艺术品位与道德关怀互为催化剂,引导她体悟“如画”特质美背后所蕴含的历史和苦难,其“如画”审美实现了从“低等”到“高贵”的转变,体现出艺术与道德和谐统一、相互提升的关系。

关键词: 亨利·詹姆斯, 《一位女士的画像》, 艺术, 道德, "如画"

Abstract: The relation between art and morality has always been one of the key issues in the studies of Henry James, American writer. Often, such studies tend to regard aestheticism as the essential cultural backdrop and reference of James’ works. However, in The Portrait of a Lady, a representative novel early in his career, James shows his great interest in the “picturesque” aesthetic that was sweeping through both England and America at that time. The heroine Isabel’s preference for the “picturesque” aesthetic, especially her transformation in the story, reveals James’ thoughts on the relation between art and morality. As she goes through the process of her growth, Isabel’s “picturesque” aesthetic gradually discloses its inherent moral dimension and potential, and functions as a reciprocal catalyst between artistic taste and moral solicitude, thus enabling her to make sense of the history and hardship hidden behind the “picturesque” beauty. Her “picturesque” aesthectic, which undergoes a transformation from “the lower” to “the noble” , embodies the harmonious and cross-fertilizing relation between art and morality.

Key words: James, The Portrait of a Lady, art, morality, picturesque

修立梅. 艺术与道德——《一位女士的画像》中的“如画”审美[J]. 外国文学研究, 2021, 43(2): 140-152.

Xiu Limei. Art and Morality: The “Picturesque” Aesthetic in The Portrait of a Lady[J]. Foreign Literature Studies, 2021, 43(2): 140-152.

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