Abstract:

As I Lay Dying is a representative work published by the famous American writer William Faulkner in the year 1930. The book centers on the description of a family’s journey to the town of Jefferson for the burial of the matriarch, Addie. Since its publication, the novel has attracted the attention of researchers who have been interested in the novel’s characters, the religious tropes and the artistic means. Comparatively speaking, the social elements of the novel are seldom discussed. The present authors believe that this novel is not only a representation of the life of poor white farmers, but also suggests the battle between the town and the countryside, as well as the identity construction in the south of the United States. The pressures and restraints exerted on the Bundrens when they struggle to be a part of the urban community indicate the structural domination of the town over the countryside. The shift of perspectives disrupts the narrative coherence, and presents the Bundren family as a fragmented, conflicted, and vulnerable group, thus suggesting the plight of rural whites during the process of urbanization. This article explores the hierarchical distinction between the town and the countryside, the journey of the Bundrens, and the resistant “representational space” of Addie and others from the perspective of Henri Lefebvre’s spatial triad theory. Faulkner shows his strong humanistic concern by describing these white farmers’ struggles to survive in a narrow space.

Keywords: William Faulkner; As I Lay Dying; spatial triad theory; space confrontation; identity construction

摘要：

《我弥留之际》是美国南方作家福克纳的代表作，讲述了本德仑一家前往杰弗生镇安葬女主人艾迪的故事。小说一经出版，即引起了学界关注。小说中的人物形象、宗教主题和艺术手法均构成了学界的关注热点。相较而言，学界对小说背后的社会因素关注不够，研究不深。笔者认为，《我弥留之际》不仅再现了农民的穷苦生活，而且触及了美国南方城乡两种空间之间的博弈与身份建构。在试图融入城镇空间的过程中，本德仑一家所经历的压力和限制反映了城镇对乡村的结构性支配。多人视角的转换更是打破了叙事的连贯性，将本德仑一家呈现为一个支离破碎、冲突不断的弱势群体，展现了城镇化进程中农村人的生存困境。本文运用列斐伏尔的空间理论，探究城镇与乡村的等级区分、本德仑一家的身份旅程以及艾迪等人的反抗性“表征空间”的建构。小说对在夹缝社会空间中生活的农民的刻画展现了作者福克纳的深度人文关怀。

关键词: 威廉·福克纳, 《我弥留之际》, 空间三一论, 空间对峙, 身份建构