《傲慢與偏見》中的敘述語氣與社會情境

Narrative Voice and Social Context in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

本文試圖探討珍‧奧斯汀的《傲慢與偏見》中敘述語氣與社會情境之互動關係。雖然奧斯汀常被批評在其作品中忽視當時所發生的重要政治與社會大事，然而經由她對敘述語氣的靈巧連用，其小說卻也反映與重塑一些社會情境。一方面，她引導並控制小說中虛構角色的行為來符合既定的社會道德觀與支持現存的社會結構。另一方面，她卻也經由表面上依循社會傳統與巧妙地將自己的觀點融入成為集體社會價值觀的一部分，而重塑我們現今所知的一個社會情境。這正是庇斯所謂的「奇才」具有能力完成的：同時認可文化權威與超越整個文化環境。藉由奧斯汀的敘述技巧，社會秩序與個體性之間的微妙平衡因而得以實現。

This article deals with the interrelationships of narrative voice and social context in Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. Though Austen is often accused of ignoring major contemporary political and social events, her novels nonetheless reflect and re-create social contexts through her skillful maneuver of narrative voice. On one hand, the behavior of fictional characters is guided and controlled by the narrative voice so as to meet the accepted social mores and to uphold the existing social structure. On the other hand, Austen also re-creates a new social context (as known to us today) by apparently conforming to social customs and by subtly incorporating her own views as part of collective social values. This is exactly what a 'genius' (in Donald E. Pease's words) is able to accomplish: to sanction the cultural authority and to transcend the cultural milieu simultaneously. Through Austen's narrative technique, a delicate balance between social order and individuality is thus achieved.