菲莉斯·惠特利的黑色古典刍议
摘要
菲莉斯·惠特利是美国第一位出版诗集的黑人女性,其创作具有鲜明的古典倾向。然而在二百多年间,她的诗歌却因为古典性被非裔美国主流文化所批判,原因之一是古典主义被20世纪的非裔美国人定义为欧洲中心主义和包含种族主义在内的霸权性意识形态。事实上,惠特利借助于古典改编获得了进入艺术领域的通行证,她的古典运用可被看作是一种力量联合。惠特利的黑色古典既是一种修辞策略,也是她作为一个黑奴进入传统时自我意识的记录。
Phillis Wheatley was the first black woman to publish poetry in the United States. Her poems have a distinct classical tendency. In 200 years,however,the poetry was dismissed by the African American mainstream culture for its indulgence in classical forms. One of the main reasons for the rejection was that classicism was defined by most African Americans in the 20 th century as a form of Eurocentrism and a hegemonic ideology that included racism. For Wheatley,classical revision was about artistic license.Rather than a conservative acceptance of the status quo,Wheatley's reception of the classics might be seen as a co-optation that forces the discourse of classicism to expand beyond its role in racism in Western history.
Phillis Wheatley was the first black woman to publish poetry in the United States. Her poems have a distinct classical tendency. In 200 years,however,the poetry was dismissed by the African American mainstream culture for its indulgence in classical forms. One of the main reasons for the rejection was that classicism was defined by most African Americans in the 20 th century as a form of Eurocentrism and a hegemonic ideology that included racism. For Wheatley,classical revision was about artistic license.Rather than a conservative acceptance of the status quo,Wheatley's reception of the classics might be seen as a co-optation that forces the discourse of classicism to expand beyond its role in racism in Western history.
引文
① Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Trials of Phillis Wheatley (New York: Basic Civitas Books, 2003), pp.16-17.
② Edward D. Seeber, “Phillis Wheatley”, Journal of Negro History (July 1939), p.260.
③ Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, ed. William Peden (New York: Norton, 1982), p.140.
④ Edward Wilmot Blyden, Christianity, Islam, and the Negro Race (London: W. B. Whittington, 1887), p.133.
⑤ Vernon Loggins, The Negro Author: His Development in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1931), p.23.
⑥ Qtd. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Trials of Phillis Wheatley, p.76.
⑦ Martin Bernal, Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization., Vol.1 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1987), pp.203-239.
⑧ Cornel West, The Cornel West Reader (New York: Basic Books, 1999), p.70.
⑨ Alain Locker, The New Negro: An Interpretation (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1925), p.48.
⑩ Addison Gayle, Jr., “Cultural Strangulation: Black Literature and the White Aesthetic”, in The Black Aesthetic (New York: Doubleday and Company,1971), p.46.
(11) Robert Kendrick, “Re-membering America: Phillis Wheatley’s Intertextual Epic”, African American Review (April 1996), p.71.
(12) 胡经之主编:《西方文艺理论名著教程》,北京大学出版社2003年版,186页。
(13) John Singleton Copley and Henry Pelham, Letters and Papers of John Singleton Copley and Henry Pelham, Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston: The Massachusetts Historical Society, 1914), p.51.
(14) William Blake, “Annotations to Reynold’s Discourses on Art”, in Eighteenth Century English Literature, eds. Geoffiy Tillotson, Paul Fussell, Marshall Waingrow and Brewster Rogerson (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1969), p.1510.
(15) William Blake, “Annotations to Reynold’s Discourses on Art”, p.1513.
(16) Archibald Bell, Morning Post and Advertiser (September 3, 1773).
(17) Edward Young, “Conjectures on Original Composition”, in The Sublime: A Reader in British Eighteenth-Century Aesthetic Theory, eds. Andrew Ashfield and Peter de Bolla (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), p.114.
(18) Edward Young, “Conjectures on Original Composition”, p.115.
(19) David Hume, “Of National Characters”, in Essays Moral, Political, and Literary, ed. Eugene F. Miller (Indianapolis, Ind.: Liberty Fund, 1987), p.208.
(20) Immanuel Kant, Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime, trans. John T. Goldthwait (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960), pp.110-111.
(21) Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, p.140.
(22) Aristotle, The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. Jonathan Barnes (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984), p.714.
(23) Longinus, “Peri Houpsos”, in The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, ed. David H. Richter (Boston: St. Martin’s, 1998), p.91.
(24) Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, p.138.
(25) Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, p.140.
(26) John C. Shields, “Phillis Wheatley’s Struggle for Freedom in Her Poetry and Prose”, in The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley, ed. John C. Shields (New York: Oxford UP, 1988), p.240.
(27) Phillis Wheatley, Life and Works of Phillis Wheatley, ed. G. Herbert Renfro (Washington D.C.: Robert L. Pendleton, 1916), p.80.(以后引用,在正文中随文标注页码。)
(28) Quentin Skinner, Liberty before Liberalism (Cambridge: Cambridge Press, 1998), p.36.
(29) Phillis Wheatley, Boston Post-Boy (March 21, 1774), p.3/2.
(30) Phillis Wheatley, Boston Post-Boy, p.3/2.
(31) 米西纳斯是贺拉斯、维吉尔等罗马艺术家的资助者和保护人,他也是罗马皇帝奥古斯都(渥大维)的密友。
(32) 泰伦斯早贺拉斯和维吉尔一个世纪左右,以喜剧著称。
(33) Annabel Patterson, “Vergil’s Eclogues: Images of Change”, in Roman Images, ed. Annabel Patterson (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), p.168.
(34) 维吉尔:《牧歌》,杨宪益译,上海人民出版社2015年版。本文中引用的《牧歌》中人名均出自此版本。
(35) Houston A. Baker, Jr. and Patricia Redmon eds., Afro-American Literary Studies in the 1990s (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989), p.137.
(36) 列奥·施特劳斯:《自由教育与责任》,载刘小枫、陈少明主编:《古典传统与自由教育》,华夏出版社2005年版,10页。
(37) 列奥·施特劳斯:《自由教育与责任》,11页。
(38) Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Trials of Phillis Wheatley, p.83.
② Edward D. Seeber, “Phillis Wheatley”, Journal of Negro History (July 1939), p.260.
③ Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, ed. William Peden (New York: Norton, 1982), p.140.
④ Edward Wilmot Blyden, Christianity, Islam, and the Negro Race (London: W. B. Whittington, 1887), p.133.
⑤ Vernon Loggins, The Negro Author: His Development in America (New York: Columbia University Press, 1931), p.23.
⑥ Qtd. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Trials of Phillis Wheatley, p.76.
⑦ Martin Bernal, Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization., Vol.1 (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1987), pp.203-239.
⑧ Cornel West, The Cornel West Reader (New York: Basic Books, 1999), p.70.
⑨ Alain Locker, The New Negro: An Interpretation (New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1925), p.48.
⑩ Addison Gayle, Jr., “Cultural Strangulation: Black Literature and the White Aesthetic”, in The Black Aesthetic (New York: Doubleday and Company,1971), p.46.
(11) Robert Kendrick, “Re-membering America: Phillis Wheatley’s Intertextual Epic”, African American Review (April 1996), p.71.
(12) 胡经之主编:《西方文艺理论名著教程》,北京大学出版社2003年版,186页。
(13) John Singleton Copley and Henry Pelham, Letters and Papers of John Singleton Copley and Henry Pelham, Collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society (Boston: The Massachusetts Historical Society, 1914), p.51.
(14) William Blake, “Annotations to Reynold’s Discourses on Art”, in Eighteenth Century English Literature, eds. Geoffiy Tillotson, Paul Fussell, Marshall Waingrow and Brewster Rogerson (San Diego: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1969), p.1510.
(15) William Blake, “Annotations to Reynold’s Discourses on Art”, p.1513.
(16) Archibald Bell, Morning Post and Advertiser (September 3, 1773).
(17) Edward Young, “Conjectures on Original Composition”, in The Sublime: A Reader in British Eighteenth-Century Aesthetic Theory, eds. Andrew Ashfield and Peter de Bolla (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2012), p.114.
(18) Edward Young, “Conjectures on Original Composition”, p.115.
(19) David Hume, “Of National Characters”, in Essays Moral, Political, and Literary, ed. Eugene F. Miller (Indianapolis, Ind.: Liberty Fund, 1987), p.208.
(20) Immanuel Kant, Observations on the Feeling of the Beautiful and Sublime, trans. John T. Goldthwait (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1960), pp.110-111.
(21) Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, p.140.
(22) Aristotle, The Complete Works of Aristotle, ed. Jonathan Barnes (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984), p.714.
(23) Longinus, “Peri Houpsos”, in The Critical Tradition: Classic Texts and Contemporary Trends, ed. David H. Richter (Boston: St. Martin’s, 1998), p.91.
(24) Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, p.138.
(25) Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, p.140.
(26) John C. Shields, “Phillis Wheatley’s Struggle for Freedom in Her Poetry and Prose”, in The Collected Works of Phillis Wheatley, ed. John C. Shields (New York: Oxford UP, 1988), p.240.
(27) Phillis Wheatley, Life and Works of Phillis Wheatley, ed. G. Herbert Renfro (Washington D.C.: Robert L. Pendleton, 1916), p.80.(以后引用,在正文中随文标注页码。)
(28) Quentin Skinner, Liberty before Liberalism (Cambridge: Cambridge Press, 1998), p.36.
(29) Phillis Wheatley, Boston Post-Boy (March 21, 1774), p.3/2.
(30) Phillis Wheatley, Boston Post-Boy, p.3/2.
(31) 米西纳斯是贺拉斯、维吉尔等罗马艺术家的资助者和保护人,他也是罗马皇帝奥古斯都(渥大维)的密友。
(32) 泰伦斯早贺拉斯和维吉尔一个世纪左右,以喜剧著称。
(33) Annabel Patterson, “Vergil’s Eclogues: Images of Change”, in Roman Images, ed. Annabel Patterson (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1984), p.168.
(34) 维吉尔:《牧歌》,杨宪益译,上海人民出版社2015年版。本文中引用的《牧歌》中人名均出自此版本。
(35) Houston A. Baker, Jr. and Patricia Redmon eds., Afro-American Literary Studies in the 1990s (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989), p.137.
(36) 列奥·施特劳斯:《自由教育与责任》,载刘小枫、陈少明主编:《古典传统与自由教育》,华夏出版社2005年版,10页。
(37) 列奥·施特劳斯:《自由教育与责任》,11页。
(38) Henry Louis Gates, Jr., The Trials of Phillis Wheatley, p.83.