第6卷第4期
V01.6 No.4
读与写杂志
Read and、Ⅳnte Periodical
2009年4月
April 20O9
Africa as a Spiritual Paradise
An Interpretation 0f The Snows 0f Kilimanj ar0
王亚楠
(南大理学院外国语学院云南大理671000)
Absh.act:In “ Ilhe Snows 0f Kilimanjam”,Har ry considers Kilimanjar0,the House of God as his last h0pe to saVe his
0wn soul and get baptized.It is a str0ng token of Archetypal litemry criticism that pe0p1e in misery 0r depression wil1
“e8cape f_r0m tjme and retum to paradise”under the c0llective unc0nsciousness. Human can only get puri矗ed in places
litt1e touched by human civilization as A ca.The snows in Kilimanjaro bring people back to nature,reminding them 0f
their primitive wishes and desire.
KeyWords:The Snows of Kilimanjar0;Power of nature;ArchetypaJ I eory;Collective Unconsciousness; Human Civiliza-
tion
中图分类号:I1O6 文献标识码:A 文章编号:1672—1578(20O9)4一OO118—02
1 In打0ductiOn.
We kn0W Emest Hemingwav mainly thr0ugh his famous
n0vels,but actually he wI_0te many sh0rt stories of high quali—
ty. I11e Snows of Kilimanjam” is 0ne of them.The pr0tagonist
Ha丌y is always believed to be Hemingway’s self-portrait.Har-
ry gave up a life of devoting his energies to writing and began
spending his time drinking, travelling, hunting, and chasing
rich women.As his hend Compton c0mes to him to take m
t0 a hospital, and as they nied away HaIry caught a glimpse
0f the summit 0f Kilimanjar0,a visi0n that awed him by its
purit)r. Only here,as he was dying, did he take pan in the
kind of cr℃ation and trlanscendence that he has always sought.
H哪 considers Kilimanjar0, the House of God as a pure
land and his last h0pe to save himself flr0m continuing to de—
generate. My question is why it is Kilimanjar0 and why the
stoIy is set in Afhca? Why human can only get puri ed in
places litde t0uched bv human civilizati0n as A陆ca?Archetv.
pal literary criticism enlightens me.When people are in misery
0r depr_ession, their unconsciousness will escape flr0m time and
retum to paradise.This paper is divided into 6ve parts to pre—
liminarily study into such cultural psychology with the help 0f
Archetypal Theo!y in order to be able to better und rstand hu—
man cu1ture.
2 LjteratlIre Re、riew
2.1 Domestic Studies
Manv sch0laI in china such as LiYanan. 0ulin and
UZhonghua show great interest in this short story, and are
aware 0f the symbolism that Hemingway endows his ordinary
peop1e and things, such as the snow—coved mountain and the
plain.zh鲫gqin(1996),XiongRongbin(1996),and“uChuan an
(20o7)al1 share the argument that Harry c0nsiders Kilimanjar0,
the House of IGod as his last hope to save his 0wn s0ul and
get b印tized.
2.2 Interna 0nal St1ldies
Malc0lm C0wley(1938),in the New Republic,n0ted that
the st0ry was “the only story in which [Hemingway]has al-
lowed himself to be conventiona1lv poetic.” Iacn0e Salavt0re
n98o1 points out that the teHn ”a1ienation” is a persistent
theme in American literature. In their studv of Hemingwav’s
w0rk,Ead Rovit and Genv Brenner(1986) ant“The Snows of
Kilimanjam” a pr0minent place,caUing it “Hemingway’s one
caIlei.ul pIlesentation of a non—ideal portrlait of an anist” and
using it t0 test their perceptions of Hemingway himsel£ Greg
Bamhisel r2001)writes that Kilimaniar0 itself represents the
heights of an.
2-3 Mv 0wn Comments
As Zhangqin,Xi0ngRongbin,and LiuChuangxian point 0ut
that Hamr considers Kilimaniar0,the H0use 0f G0d as his last
hope to save his own soul and get baptized.All those sch0lars
interpret the st0ry in dif_ferent aspects in len h and depth.But
none of them sees into the meaning implied in the story flr0m
culture aspect.As Greg Bam sel notes,Kilimanjam itself rep—
resents the he唔hts of art.1 was inspired by Archetypal theory
t0 tIy t0 find out reasons why human can only get pudfied in
Dlaces tde t0uched bv human civilization as Af ca? Is it co.
incidence or s0mething else?
3 Theoretjcal Framew0rk and Critical ApprOach.
Archetypal literary criticism is a type of critical theory
that interprets a text by f0cusing on recurring myths and
archetypes in the narrative, symbols, images, and character
types in a litemry w0rk.Archetypal litemry criticism’s ori ns
are rooted in two other academic disciplines, s0cial anthr0p0lo.
gy and psychoanalysis.Each contributed to the litemry criticism
in separate wavs, with the latter being a sub—branch 0f the
critical theory.Here is a fundamental archetype,general1y talk—
ing one 0f two basic na盯ative f0rn1s:
A——Escape fr0m time——retum to pamdise,the state 0f
perfect, timeless bliss enioyed bef0re man and woman bef0re
their tra c fall to comlption and morta1itv.
B——Mvstical submersion into cvclical time: the theme 0f
end1ess death and IlegeneI_ation——human beings achieve a
kind of immortality by submitting to the vast, mysteri0us
rhvthm of natuI ’s etemal cvcle。 particularlv the cvcle of the
seas0ns.(Guerin,1999)
W0rks bv n_azer,Car1 Gustav Jung are representatives 0f
this theory.Jung’s work theorizes ab0ut myths and archetypes
in I_elation to the unconscious, an inaccessib1e part of the
mind.
4 Discussi0n and A哪lysis
4.1Kilimaniar0,Af ca as a spiritual paradise
The images 0f Amca in Westem writings in general have
not changed greatly f om antiquity to the pI sent: that conti・
nent has alwavs been viewed as a land of mvster and lavish
exotica. Kanvandekwe。 Daniel, Ph.D., State Universitv of New
York at Buf_falo claims that one main line of American litem.
ture looked to the ”fr0ntiertI as a repository of natural values.
The disappearance 0f the”flr0ntie rt|has pr0mpted some impor_
tant American ters to look fl0r a substitute,which they fl0und
in African primitiVism.
The snow—coved mountain symbolizes etemity’s triumph
over death; noble pursuit def ating vulgar easiness. The n0bly
towering m0untain is a contrast to the plain where sick Han
lies and his waiting only fl0r death without nob1e pursuit in his
life. LiYanan, 0ulin (2007) pose the questi0n that why the
第6卷第4期
Vo1.6 No.4
读与写杂志
Read and Write Periodica1
2O09年4月
April 2009
LeoDard comes t0 the sn0w mountain in the sun burnt A ica?
And what did Harry t珂to壬ind in Kilimanjaro all the way
f_r0m America?Their answer is that Ki1imaniaro is symb0l of
unknown land,their last h0pe after others ef )rts failed.
4.2 Interpretation from Archetvpal The0ry
4.2.1ColIective unc0n8ciousness makes aI℃hetypal images and
idea p0ssible
As the Archetypal literary criticism claims, the coⅡective
unconsciousness,0r the objective psyche as it is less f equently
kn0wn。 is a number 0f innate thoughts,f elings, instincts, and
mem0ries that reside in the unconsciousness 0f aU people.
Fmm a Jungian perspective, myths are the “cultura1ly elaborat—
ed repI℃sentations of the contents of the deepest I℃cess of the
human psyche:the world of the archetypes”(Wa1ker,1995).To
Jung,an archetype in the collective unconscious, as quoted
flr0m Leitch,is “iITepr℃sentable”,but has eflfects which make
visualizations 0f it possible due to the lact they aI a£an in—
accessible paIt of the mind. The aI℃hetypes to which Jung
re南rs are represented thr0ugh primordial images. Pdm0rdial
images ori nate flr0m the inm al stages 0f humanity and haVe
been Dart of the collective unconscious ever since. (Leitch,
20011
Human beings are products of cultures. Within a culture,
collective consciousness plays a great part in people’s thinking
and acting.What is good and what’s bad has been labe1ed by
some standards. The pmtag0nist Harry choose Kilimanjam,
Af ca as a 1]lace t0 get his heart purified and therefl0I七 t0
find back his creating power in writing as well as his meaning
of 1ife.It is a str0ng t0ken of Archetypa1 literary criticism山at
peop1e in misery or depression will “escape 0m time and re・
tum to Daradise” under the col1ective unconsci0usness. And
human bejngs achieve a ki『1d of inlmona1ity by submitting to
the vast。mvsterious rhvthm 0f namre’s ete丌1a1 cycle.(GueTin,
1999)
4.2.2Primitive land as Afriea brings human back to humanity
Af ca is c0nsidered unconsci0usly by pe0ple as a pa adise
in earthlv human wor1d. It’s serene, pure and holy. As
Kanvandekwefl996)notes,like the ”flr0ntier”,AfHca is a l0cus
of primitivism where American protagonists nee in quest of
spiritual tI_anscendence,escaping flr0m the waste land of West—
em civilizatioI1. Here comes the questi0n: as a primitive land,
what qua1ifies Africa as山e spiritua1 paradise?
Af ca is less cultivated than manv 0ther I gi0ns in the
wor1d. It’s c(1mpamtively quiet and peaceful_ Is that true that
human can only get purified mind in places 1ittle touched by
human civilizati0n as Af ica?First it could be the presence 0f
nature. The sn0ws in Kilimaniam bring people back to nature,
r℃minding them of their primitive wishes and desire. So at that
moment.Harry recal1s his o1d days and renects his whole life
ti1l he finds that he should not have abandoned writing, his
p—mi£ive pursui£as wel1 as a possible meanjngh】l ljfe. So it’s
the power of nature that brings human back to basic humanity.
In addjtion. in 1itefatu works, nature and human are
0m the real world as we1l as above it. Images and aI℃hetypes
are crea把d tllrough rich imagination and hu an wishes. under
their collective unconsci0usness,Af ca is a 1)uI_e and h0ly land
that is close to flavor of God as well as etemity.There )re they
believe that it’s an access t0 a;ret their souls purified.Other.
wise we could find little appealing points in such primitiVe and
remote place as Kilimanjaro and we may only get some sense
of loneliness and loss in places as AfTica.As f0r Frye,literary
archetypes “pIay an essentiaI mle in refashioning the material
universe int0 an altemative verhal universe that is human1y in—
telligible and viable, because it is adapted to essential human
needs and concems”fAbrams, 1993).
As they ny away Harry catches a glimpse 0f the summit
0f Kmma ar0,a visi0n that awes him by its purity.0n1y here,
as he dies.does he take Dart in the kind of creation and tr_an—
scendence that he has alwavs sought.
5 C0nclusi0n.
5,1 Maior Fjndjngs
Afhca has alwavs been viewed as a 1and of mvstery and
lavish ex0tica. It is a str0嚷token of Archetypal li£erary c订ti—
cism that people in misery or depressi0n wil1 “escape flr0m
time and retu瑚 t0 Dara出se” under the collective unconscious—
Human can 0nly get puri ed in places little t0uched by
human civi1ization as Africa. Firstlv, Africa is less cultivated
than many 0ther regions in the world. It’s comparatiVely quiet
and peaceful_ The sn0ws in Kilimanjam bring pe0ple back t0
nature, reminding them of their primitive wishes and desire.
Secondlv. in litefature works, nature and human are fmm the
real w0r1d as wel1 as above it. Images and aI℃hetypes aI cre—
ated thr0u rich imaginati0n and human wishes.
5.2S培ni cance and Limitation
This p印er applies AI℃hetypal The0ry to study into an ei—
ther cu1tuI_al or psych0logical t0pic: Why in peop1e’s col1ectiVe
consciousness,remote and primitive places as A ca are chosen
to be people’s印i imal paradise?Due t0 limitation of印phca—
ble academic materials and the author’s own knowledge capac—
ity, the paper can only partly gives out answers at shallow
leve1. Further studies on the point aI℃p0ssib1e and encour.aged.
Culture is human being’s comm0n wealth, which is mirmr as
wel1 as guide of human ciVilizati0n.
Ref rences:
【1】李忠华.浅谈《乞力马扎罗的雪》中的象征UJ.解放军外国语学
院学报,200O,(3).
I2】李亚南,区林.《乞力马扎罗山的雪》的底蕴解读U】.云南师范
大学学报(哲学社会科学版0,2007,(5):92—96.
【31刘传贤.《乞力马扎岁山的食》意识流的独特运用U].双语学习,
2007,(8):139—140.
【41张勤 熊荣斌.浮想至绝顶:《乞力马扎罗的雪》的意识流叙述风
格评析UJ_外国文学评论,1996,(4):49—55.
『51Guerin,Wi1lf d L.A Handbook of Critica1 Approaches t0 Lit—
erature『M1.北京:外语教学与研究.出版社,1999.
[6]Leitch, Vincent B.”Northr0p Frye.” The Norton Anth0logy:
I’heory and C打ticism. Ed. Vincent B.IJeitch [M1. New York:
Norton 2001.1442—1445.
[71Sega1,R0bert A.”Intmduction.”Jung on Mythol0gy[M】.I nce—
ton:Princeton Universitv Press,1998.3—48.
[8] alker,Steven F.Jung and【he Jungians on Myth(M].New
Y0rk:Garland Publishing。1995.3—15.
(上接69页)
学生学习的兴趣.增强学生掌握各种不同应用文的实际能力,并
促使其从中悟出写作规律。
总之.随着社会的发展,人们交往的频繁,作为信息载体的
应用文也越来越受到人们的重视。因此,我们每个人都需要掌握
一些应用文写作的基本知识和技能。广大学生更应该注重应用
文写作能力的培养和训练。
参考文献:
【1】彭亮,张福建.应用文写作[M】.北京理工出版社,2006.8
[2]李国英.应用文写作【M】.辽宁大学出版社,2008.12.
[3】李振辉.应用文写作fM】.清华大学出版社,2OO5.
作者简介:张杏丽,女,汉族,毕业于河南大学汉语言文学系,从
事语文教学工作多年,现为河南质量工程职业学院讲师。
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