Cathedral Raymond Carver(《大教堂》雷蒙德.卡佛)
雷蒙德·卡佛：《你们为什么不跳个舞？》
雷蒙德·卡佛：《你们为什么不跳个舞?》作者：唐书哲来源：《新高考·新世纪智能·英语进阶》2019年第12期作者简介雷蒙德·卡佛（Raymond Carver 1938-1988），美國短篇小说家和诗人，20世纪80年代短篇小说复兴的重要力量之一，出生于俄勒冈州乡间贫穷的锯木工人家庭，父亲酗酒，成长环境无缘文化的熏陶。
19岁时和高中恋人结婚，之后为了养家糊口曾一度辗转漂泊，做过各种工作，并在此期间开始酗酒。
但卡佛在多年辗转中并未中断过上学和写作，1961年开始文学创作，1966年获得爱荷华大学硕士学位。
1983年卡佛获得“施特劳斯津贴”，开始了不为生计发愁的日子，成为了职业作家。
可是五年后，吸烟又毁掉了他的肺，并在1988年要了他的命，享年50岁。
作品简介日本作家村上春树曾这样评价过卡佛：“他的名字会留在美国文学史中，他留下的65篇短篇小说中，至少有6篇能够被当作经典长久地阅读下去的。
”卡佛的短篇小说主要收录在以下几个小说集中：《请你安静些，好吗？》（Will You PleaseBe Quiet，Please？.1976），《愤怒的季节》（FurlousSeasons.1977），《当我们谈论爱情的时候，我们到底在谈论什么》（What We Talk about When We Talk about Love，1981），《大教堂》（Cathedral，1983），《大象》（Elephant，1988）。
卡佛的短篇小说语言浅显简洁，没有多余的修饰，作品中处处隐藏着超越日常生活的奇妙意外，有着一种让人忍俊不禁的痛快幽默和刺痛人心的现实感。
选文来自《当我们谈论爱情的时候，我们到底在谈论什么》。
Why D on’t You Dance？ By Raymond Carver1.作者根据需要对原文做出了改动。
2.“Yard sale”有时候也叫“garage sale”指的是个人非正式地出售（往往以较低的价格）用过的物品。
（4）雷蒙德·卡佛诗选
（4）雷蒙德·卡佛诗选得一忘二译快乐那么早，外面几乎还黑着。
我端着咖啡站在窗前，大清早常有的事儿闪过脑子。
这时我看到那男孩和他的朋友沿着路走来，分发报纸。
他们身穿毛衣戴着帽子，其中一个肩上斜背着包。
他们那么快乐，却并没说什么话，这俩孩子。
如果他们方便，我想他们应该会挽着膀子。
这一大清早，他们一起做这么一件事儿。
他们走了过来，不紧不慢的。
天色开始放亮，而月亮仍然白兮兮的悬在湖水上空。
这样的美，一时间令死亡、雄心甚至爱都无法进入此时。
快乐，它的到来令人反应不及，而且真的是清晨有关它的任何言语都无法企及。
星期天之夜善用你周围的事物。
在窗外的这场轻雨，算上它。
我手指夹着的这支烟，长沙发上的这两只脚。
隐隐约约的摇滚乐声，我脑子里的红色法拉利。
那个喝得稀里糊涂的女人在厨房里跌跌撞撞……把这些都用算上，善加利用。
挺进俄罗斯正当他不再想着要放弃哪怕再写一行诗的时候，她开始用发刷梳头，且哼唱那首他最喜欢的爱尔兰民谣，唱的是拿破仑和他的“那把漂亮的玫瑰花儿”！年轻女生忘掉所有包含着畏缩的经历。
任何与室内乐相关的事。
下雨的周日下午参观美术馆，等等。
忘掉那些古代大师。
忘掉这一切。
忘掉那些年轻女生。
尽量要忘掉她们。
那些年轻女生。
还有相关的一切。
Raymond CarverHappinessSo early it’s still almost dark out.I’m near the window with coffee,and the usual early morning stuffthat passes for thought.When I see the boy and his friend walking up the roadto deliver the newspaper.They wear caps and sweaters,and one boy has a bag over his shoulder. They are so happythey aren’t saying anything, these boys.I think if they could, they would take each other’s arm.It’s early in the morning,and they are doing this thing together. They come on, slowly.The sky is taking on light,though the moon still hangs pale over the water. Such beauty that for a minutedeath and ambition, even love,doesn’t enter into this.Happiness. It comes onunexpectedly. And goes beyond, really,any early morning talk about it.Sunday NightMake use of the things around you.This light rainOutside the window, for one.This cigarette between my fingers,These feet on the couch.The faint sound of rock-and-roll,The red Ferrari in my head.The woman bumpingDrunkenly around in the kitchen…Put it all in,Make use.The March into RussiaJust when he had given up thinkinghe’d ever write another line of poetry,she began brushing her hair.And singing that Irish folk songhe liked so much.That one about Napoleon andhis “bonnie bunch of roses, oh!”The Young GirlsForget all experiences involving wincing.And anything to do with chamber music. Museums on rainy Sunday afternoons, etcetera. The old masters. All that.Forget the young girls. Try and forget them. The young girls. And all that.。
豆瓣8.9《大教堂》｜卡佛笔下的极简主义、现实困境与意象运用
豆瓣8.9《大教堂》｜卡佛笔下的极简主义、现实困境与意象运用在朋友的推荐之下，我拜读了雷蒙德.卡佛的短篇小说《大教堂》。
在没阅读之前，我对卡佛的有关资料一无所知。
趁着这次阅读的机会，我才有幸得知在美国二十世纪下半叶，有着这样一位极简主义的代表。
他被誉为继海明威之后最具影响力的美国作家，行文简练，在修辞手法的运用方面吝啬无比。
因为描写的是美国蓝领阶层的真实现状，所以在当时经常遭受美国梦鼓吹者的抵制。
但无论世人怎样看待，这位其貌不扬的短篇小说大家在他的创作生涯中始终保持着自己的特色。
1983年，《大教堂》短篇小说集问世，成为了他创作的巅峰。
《大教堂》中的短篇小说依旧淋漓尽致地体现着他简约的写法，依旧不厌其烦地描写着美国底层群众的现实困顿。
今天，我将以与这部短篇小说合集同名的短篇小说《大教堂》为例，解读卡佛笔下的极简主义，现实困境，并分析他在文中对意象的运用。
1、相较于之前来说的慷慨，难逃的极简主义尽管卡佛本人被誉为美国极简主义大师，但他本人却相当抵触这一说法。
1983年《大教堂》发表之后，不少文学评论家都在此中看见了卡佛本人对于突破极简风格的努力。
他在《大教堂》中的描写，难得地被人用“慷慨”二字来形容，但无论如何，这部短篇小说从头到尾都依旧充斥着卡佛的极简笔法。
①选材的简单，意蕴的丰富《大教堂》讲述了主人公“我”的妻子邀请认识长达十多年的盲人朋友来家中作客，我与盲人在看电视的过程中恰好碰上电视解说员在介绍各国的大教堂，于是盲人拜托“我”为他介绍大教堂具体样貌的故事。
无论从哪个角度去看，全文描写的无非就是日常生活的琐事，用一句话总结即为“妻子的盲人朋友到我家做客的经历”。
这样的描写内容符合卡佛一贯的调性，他十分擅长把美国蓝领阶层的生活摆到明面上，用笔记录这些看似无足轻重的琐碎日常。
但他简单的选材背后却波涛汹涌，直击底层人物生活的矛盾。
他揭露的矛盾，是底层群众在精神上的自我隔离。
《大教堂》中的妻子与前夫虽是青梅竹马，却仍然感觉在灵魂上没有共同语言，于是她最终服药，试图自杀，离婚后嫁给了“我”。
CathedralRaymondCarver（《大教堂》雷蒙德.卡佛）
CathedralRaymondCarver（《大教堂》雷蒙德.卡佛）第一篇：Cathedral Raymond Carver(《大教堂》雷蒙德.卡佛) Cathedral Raymond Carver大教堂雷蒙德．卡佛文章中英文分析《大教堂》是他最著名的短篇之一。
主人公的妻子多年来与一位盲人朋友保持联系。
一次，盲人朋友终于要来拜访这对夫妇，妻子兴致勃勃，主人公却非但不激动，反而竭力克制自己毫无理由的敌意和鄙夷。
和其他一些故事一样，主人公对生活这种无所谓和厌弃相混合的态度，始终是个没有提示的谜题。
除了从卡佛自己的生活经历入手，恐怕很难找到别的解释。
《大教堂》结尾，主人公在闭着眼睛和盲人一起画画的过程中，绷紧的神经终于放松下来。
不是四两拨千斤，而是花大量篇幅在天平一端放了过多郁闷之后，在另一端放一茶匙淡淡的欢欣意思意思。
然而，这便是雷蒙德·卡佛。
Cathedral Summary “Cathedral” opens with the narrator telling the reader in a conversational tone that a blind friend of his wife's is coming to visit them.The narrator is clearly unhappy about the upcoming visit.He then flashes back to the story of how his wife met the blind man when she worked for him as a reader.At the time, she was engaged to marry an officer in the Air Force.When she tells the blind man goodbye, he asks if he can touch her face.The touch of his fingers on her face is a pivotal moment in her life, something the narrator does not understand.Although his wife has maintained contact with the blind man for ten years, this will be the first time she has seen him since her marriage, subsequent divorce, and remarriage.Robert, the blind man, has just lost his wife and will be traveling to Connecticut to visit with her family.Along the way he will spend the night at the home of the narrator and hiswife.His wife tells the narrator that Robert and his wife, Beulah, were inseparable.Themes Alienation and Loneliness Like the characters in many of Carver's works, the main characters experience, or have experienced, alienation and loneliness.The narrator is unhappy in his work, jealous of his wife, and unconnected to other human beings.In addition to not being connected to others himself, he seems to resent his wife's connections to other people as well.When he speaks of the impending visit by the blind man he states, ''I wasn' t enthusiastic about his visit...A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.’’ Further, once Robert arrives...The narrator is not an articulate man;consequently, the narration is filled with gaps that the reader must fill in.“Cathedral” Plot Summary The story’s narrator informs the readers that a friend of his wife’s, a man who happens to be blind, is on his way to visit.The narrator is not enthusiastic about the visit because blind people make the narrator uncomfortable, mainly because the narrator has no real experience with the blind.In addition to his uneasiness with the blind, the narrator is uncomfortable with his wife’s relationship with the blind man.The wife and Robert, the blind man, have maintained a close relationship via tape recordings mailed back and forth, and the narrator finds this unsettling.Despite the narrator’s feelings about the visit, Robert shows up, and the three of them dine together, and Robert and the narrator get to know each other.Characters Robert: Robert, the blind man, is a long-time friend of the narrator’s wife.Robert has mai ntained a close relationship with the narrator’s wife since she worked for him years ago.Since then, they have stayed in touch.Robert works hard to get to know that narrator, too, while he is visiting them, pushing the narrator to talk and interact with him, bringing thenarrator out of his shell of closed-off ignorance.The narrator’s wife also seems to have some internal struggle, mainly due to what is divulged about her past.She was married before and suffered from loneliness.She has attempted suicide in the past, and now she is in a difficult marriage once again.Surely, had the story been told from her perspective, the depths of her internal struggle would be brought further to light.At the end of “Cathedral,” the narrator has a life-changing moment, or an epiphany, while trying to tell Robert what a cathedral looks like.The narrator, when first trying to explain what the cathedral looks like, struggles for the words.However, upon Robert’s encouragement, loosens up, and draws the cathedral with Robert, guiding his hand with a pencil onto paper.This is a close personal connection and intimate moment of communication for the narrator, and it impacts him greatly.The narrator is able to connect with Robert, and this is the moment where the narrator can put aside his insecurities and actually interact with someone else.It changes the narrator;he says, “It was like nothing else in my life up to now”(Carver 108).Throughout Cathedral, the boundaries the narrator has placed on his interaction and communication with o thers are eroded by Robert’s patient persistence in getting to know him.As a result, the narrator confronts his own insecurities and misconceptions, not just about Robert and the blind, but also about his own ability to interact with others.第二篇：英文文学评论,雷蒙德卡佛《大教堂》Chuai 1Jing C*** Professor Stephanie Denny English 1102 26 September 2015Isolation and Reunion The novel “Cathedral” was writtenby American Minimalistwriter and poet Raymond Carver in 1982.After a thorough analysis of “Cathedral”, one can understand the fictional construction of its charactersandcomprehend the purpose of the theme presentedin this novel.Throughout the conflict between the narrator “I”, his wife and the blind man, Carver shows the significance of “Cathedral”, which symbolizes love, hope and redemption.In the opening of the story, Carver highlights the main characters common bond of solitude.Although they share that similarity, they are all very different.Initially, Narrator “I” hadan active relationship with his wife, but as time passed he became more and more isolated, apatheticand lonesome.Carver usesunreliable first person characterthe “I” totalkabout his wife’s past in regards toher mental activity.Itmeans they had always maintained a great line of communication with each other;his wifealways opened up to him about herself.Carver never explains how the couple began to separate and become indifferent with one another.It may have been the stress of his job, or the dullness of his life altogether, butthe “I” began to isolate himself from his wife and everyone else.He was did not have a social life or friends for that matter;something that was discovered during a conversation between he and his wife.Instead, the“I” would comfort himself by indulging in alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana and TV shows.The culture of television is also an important part of Carver’s works “Simmons argues that television's presence in Carver's stories signals two things:Chuai 2a moral vacuity and historical superficiality in the lives of characters attributable in part to television's evisceration ofhistorical “depth” in their lives”(Mullen 52).It was during this time thata poor blind man chosethe “perfect” time to visit an old friend, the “I’s” wife.During the blind man’s visit, the narrator andhost“I” becom e defensive and display resentment against the friendship between his wife and the blind man because the blind touched his wife 10 years ago, “She told me he touched his fingers to every part of her face, her nose---even her neck!She never forgot it”(104).Although the blind man has never occupy her, the “I” still feels very mind of this old friend of her because “the sense of touch is more intrinsic than vision”(Armour 145), furthermore, they kept touch in the past ten years.So when the blind man arrives at his house, all readers can smells narrator’s antipathy, “This blind man, feature this, he was wearing a full beard!A beard on a blind man!Too much, I say”(106).Start from here, the conflict is set at the beginning of the story.The second character in this story is the narrator’s wife.She considered suicide in her first marriage and now she’s suffering another lonely marriage due to lack communications with her husband.Carver showcases her current badmarriage through contrast it with her friendship with bli nd man.“Over the years, she put all kinds of stuff on tapes and sent the tapes off lickety-split...She and I began going out, and of course she told her blind man about it.She told him everything”(105).Carver doesn’t give any clear and direct reasoningto exp lain why this couple’s relationship is crumbling, buthe writes, “Once she asked me if I’d like to hear the latest tape from the blind man (I)said okay… We were interrupted, a knock at the door, and we didn’t ever get back to the tape.I’d heard all I wanted to”(105).From here, readers should know the answer, the “I” doesn’t care about her and her tapes and he doesn’t care forthe blind man as well.Therefore, the blind’s visit sharpens the conflictsof the story.Chuai 3The third character, as well as the key character of “Cathedral” is the blind man.He isalso isolated, but dissimilar from the narrator who is self-isolating and his wife who is isolated by her husband.The Blind man is isolated by the social discrimination and biases.“He was no one I knew…My idea of blind man came from the movies.In the movies, the blind moved slowly and never laughed…A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to”(104);“…Beulah and the blind man had themselves a church wedding…just the two of them, plus the minister and the minister’s wife”(106).Unfortunately, this blind man visits this inhospitable host, and without a doubt, the narrator is very impolite to him.In response to the “I’s” hostility, theblindman demonstrates his tolerance as well as intelligence.When th e “I” sneers at him with the sites of the Hudson River sight viewing boat, he changes the topic tactfully to his “distinguishedbeard(107)”.When the “I” talks about the changing the TV channel, the blind replies, “Whatever you want to watch is okay…Learning never ends… I got ears”(110).The blind man also doesn’t refusemarijuana when offered a smoke from the “I”.He simply replies, “There’s a first time for everything”(109).Thus it can be understood that all responses from the blind man are very friendly and open-minded.No matter how cruel his life, and no matter how poorly people have treated him, the blind man always remains positive and optimistic.Carver gives blind man a character that is completely accepting of reality, which is the opposite ofthe “I”.The conflict is sharpened by the contrast between the two different characters---the insightful blind man and isolatednormal vision the “I”.Finally, when the story reachesthe climax, Carver shows the readers his finalredemption---Cathedral.What is the cathedral symbolize in this story?First it represents the life, “If somebody says cathedral to you, do you have any notion what they’re talking about”, “I know they took hundreds of workers fifty to hundred years to build…they never lived to see the completion ofChuai 4their work.In that wise, bub, they’re no different from the rest of us, right?”(111).Secondly, the cathedral represents faith, which was once heldby people but is now lost.“In those olden days, when they built cathedrals, men wanted to be close to God…God was an important part of life…I don’t believe in it, in any thing”(111).Lastly, the cathedral also represents the hope and love in blind man’s faith.Church is mentioned twice in this story, once at blind man’s wedding, and again during the TV show.Although the blind man can’t see the building of cathedral, he already knows the meaning of it.The cathedralrepresents the most essential regression of human interaction.The blind man wants to enticethe narrator with it, showing the“I” how amazing the cat hedral looks like in his mind: as happiness, love and hope.At the close of the story, “I” finds his perfect cathedral in his mind with his eyes closed.“His concerns are the relationship between sight and insight, the mind’s eye and the theme of blindness, the disjunction between the eye of the artist and the production of the artist’s hand.The works, all of which appear in the text, are of several varieties: depiction of blindness, relation of blindindividuals to their environment, blindness cured, blindness that brings insight, the self-portrait and self-portrait series and its diachronicrelationship to landscape portraiture.”(Forman)Carver’s story represents a minimalistic-style novel.Carver hopes this story can help every confused and isolated personfind hope, love and begin to reestablish healthy forms of communication.He realizesmany peopleisolate themselves from crowds, such as the narrator.Carver gives the solution of how to return each isolated individualback to the world: hope,while finding the homeland of the soul, which is the cathedral.Works CitedChuai 5Raymond, Carver.“Cathedral.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama and Writing.Ed.X.J Kennedy and Dana Gioia.8th Compact Ed.New York: Pearson, 2016.415-16.Print.Mullen, Bill.“A Su btle Spectacle: Televisual Culture inthe Short Stories of Raymond Carver.” Critique 39.2(1998): 99.Academic Search Complete.Web.21 Sept.2015.Armour, Leslie.“Paper Machine/On Touching--Jean-Luc Nancy.” Library Journal 130.14(2005): 145-146.Literary Reference Center.Web.21 Sept.2015.Forman, Robert J.“Memoirs ofthe Blind.” Magill’S Literary Annual 1995(1995): 1-3.Literary Reference Center.Web.21 Sept.2015.第三篇：雷蒙德卡佛短篇小说研究论文1引言雷蒙德·卡佛是美国二十世纪八十年代短篇小说复兴的主将，他擅以简约文风描绘后工业时代美国中下层阶级的凡庸生活，被誉为“美国中产阶级的契诃夫”。
雷蒙德-卡佛短篇小说的隔阂与对话
雷蒙德?卡佛短篇小说的隔阂与对话一、沉默的自我与人物雷蒙德·卡佛（Raymond Carver）是美国20世纪后半叶最重要的小说家之一，他的短篇小说创作标志着“极简主义”（minimalism）文学风格的成熟。
卡佛在小说中着力描绘美国社会蓝领阶层生活的困厄和前途的渺茫，关注现代人在一个异化社会中的生存状态是他的创作主旨。
在卡佛的小说中，这些蓝领人物的一大特色就是缺乏符合社会交往规约的语言表达能力和交流沟通能力，他们在小说世界中往往沉默不语，存在严重的交流障碍。
许多评论家都指出卡佛小说人物的这一特点。
迈克尔·杰哈特认为：“正如评论家所普遍指出的那样，这些人物不能将他们的沮丧用语言表达出来并与人沟通，这导致了他们在社会、道德、精神等方面的瘫痪。
” [1]。
劳里·钱皮恩认为：“事实上，人物不同其他人交流时卡佛小说常出现的主题。
” [2]戴维德·伯克塞尔和卡桑德拉·菲利普在谈到卡佛早期出版的短篇小说集《请你安静些好吗？》（Will You Please Be Quiet，Please？）时同样指出卡佛的小说世界是“没有交流的、处在沉默边缘的世界”。
[3]20世纪七八十年代，美国大众承受着能源危机和里根经济政策造成的经济危机，他们或失业、或做着繁重的工作却看不到未来，卡佛正是着其中的一员。
卡佛出身工人家庭，年轻时做过数份零工以维持生计，其创作题材来自于它自身的生活体验，卡佛笔下困厄蓝领的经历大体相似：他们是失败又失意的美国平民，靠微薄的薪水维持生存，完全丧失体面的权利。
在《论创作》（On Writing）一文中，卡佛说，创造不光靠才华，也靠他特有的、与众不同的世界观：作家把自己对事物的看法通过艺术形式表现出来，创造出不同的艺术世界，就算大功告成。
卡佛的小说试图精准再现生活的压迫导致的人的麻木，不善于沟通、和交流障碍。
这种交流障碍导致他们只能酗酒、沉迷于电视、一人独处，而酗酒、沉迷电视、独处又反过来作用于人物，使人物变得更无言、更不能交流，于是小说人物陷入了一个恶性循环的怪圈。
雷蒙德·卡佛《羽毛》的符号学解读
雷蒙德卡佛《羽毛》的符号学解读沈静宇【摘要】《羽毛》是美国简约派小说家雷蒙德·卡佛的一篇短篇小说。
小说叙述了一对夫妇去朋友家做客的一次经历以及之后的一些情况。
本文试图用符号学能指／所指理论视角，通过对文本的细读，分析小说中孔雀、小孩、牙齿、羽毛、头发等主要符号的所指意义，解读小说的深层内涵。
%Feathers is one of the American minimalist writer Raymond Carver＇s short stories. It narrates the experience of a couple＇s visit of a friend and what happened after the visit. From the perspective of signifier/signified theory of semiotics, this paper analyzes the signified meaning of the signs in the story such as peacock, child, teeth, feathers, hair and silence through detailed reading of the text, so as to interpret the deep intention of the story.【期刊名称】《清远职业技术学院学报》【年(卷),期】2012(005)001【总页数】4页(P58-61)【关键词】雷蒙德·卡佛;《羽毛》;符号学;文学符号【作者】沈静宇【作者单位】苏州大学外国语学院,江苏苏州215006【正文语种】中文【中图分类】I712一雷蒙德·卡佛与短篇小说《羽毛》雷蒙德·卡佛（Raymond Carver）是简约派小说家最重要代表人物之一。
20世纪80年代，美国文坛中简约派（minimalism）短篇小说异峰突起，独树一帜。
大教堂（卡佛作品）
CIP大教堂/(美)卡佛(Carver.R.)著；肖铁译.—南京：译林出版社，2009.1（2013.1重印）书名原文：CathedralISBN 978-7-5447-0600-1Ⅰ.大… Ⅱ.①卡… ②肖… Ⅲ.①短篇小说-作品集-美国-现代 Ⅳ.①I712.45中国版本图书馆CIP数据核字（2008）第067563号Cathedral by Raymond CarverCopyright © 1983 to 1988 by Raymond CarverCopyright © 1989 to 2006 by Tess GallagherPublished by arrangement with International Creative Management, Inc.through Bardon-Chinese Media AgencyChinese (simplified characters) Trade Paperback copyright © 2008 by Yilin Press All rights reserved.著作权合同登记号 图字：10—2006—185号Raymond Carver： America Shomin No Kotoba by Haruki MurakamiCopyright © 2000 Haruki MurakamiAll rights reserved.Originally published in Japan.Chinese (in simplified Chinese characters only) translation rights arranged with Haruki Murakami through The Sakai Agency.书 名 大教堂作 者 ［美国］雷蒙德·卡佛译 者 肖 铁责任编辑 袁 楠原文出版 Vintage Contemporaries,1989出版发行 凤凰出版传媒集团 凤凰出版传媒股份有限公司 译林出版社集团地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009集团网址 出版社地址 南京市湖南路1号A楼，邮编：210009电子信箱 yilin@出版社网址 字 数 146千版 次 2009年1月第1版 2013年1月第5次印刷书 号 ISBN 978-7-5447-0600-1目录卡佛主要作品列表［前言］ 雷蒙德·卡佛：美国平民的话语羽毛瑟夫的房子保鲜软座包厢好事一小件维他命小心火车发烧马笼头大教堂［附录一］ 卡佛自话[1]［附录二］ 译后记：卡佛与极简主义小说一生作品以短篇小说和诗歌为主，还有部分散文。
盲目与洞见——浅析雷蒙德·卡佛《大教堂》的极简主义风格
Ｖ０ｌ＿ｌＯ Ｎｏ．２ Ｊｕｎ．２０１２
盲 目与洞见
浅析雷蒙德 ·卡佛《大教堂 的极简主义风格
孔 锐 才
（新 西 兰 奥 克 兰 大 学人 文 学 院 ，奥 克 兰 １１４２）
【摘要】（（大教堂》 完整地体现 了雷蒙德 ·卡佛的艺术理念 。文本通过重点分析 （（大教 堂》 的外在形 式与 内在构建两
事实上，我们注意到 “观看”不仅意味着权力，它还 以为着无知 的盲 目。正如德里达 在 《盲人 的记 忆》 中指 出，“观看”在西方 的文化 中，还意味着一种封 闭的形而 上 学 的 自恋 ， ０这 种 自恋 的状 态 衍 生 出传 统 的 叙 述 者 对 作 品的全景控 制。当观看者 行使观看 的主动权 中，它实质 上 陷入 了封 闭 的 主 体 性 中 ，而 无 法 深 入 到不 可 见 的层 面 ， 这 个 不 可 见 的层 面 相 反 却 是 让 观 看 成 为 可 能 的 “盲 点 ”。
方面考察卡佛的小说构思 ，进 而探 索这 两方面彼此互动所产生的共 鸣效应 。这种解读方式 不仅有助 于我们重新理解极 简
主 义小说 的艺术特征 ，更有助于重新反 思极 简主义思潮的精神 品质 。
【关键词】雷蒙德 ·卡佛 ；（（大教堂 ；极 简主 义；德里这
【中图分类号 】Ｉ１０６
【文献标识码】 Ａ
相 应 地 ， “盲 目” 这 一 主 题 在 小 说 中 同样 既 意 味 着 “我”作 为主人公的局 限，也意味着 “我”作为叙 述者对
【收稿 日期】２０１２－０５—０４ 【作者简介】孔锐才 ，男 ，广东佛山人：新西兰奥克兰大学人文学院博 士生：主要研究方 向为艺术理论研究和戏剧研究 。
作品在处理这种 “观看”与 “被观看”的关系是有趣 的。首先 ，“我”作为叙述者在作 品的开端 ，运用 了大量 外貌描述 ，去形容盲 人邋 遏的外貌 与古怪的“举止”。“我” 成 为语 言 的 施 暴 者 ，企 图在 控 制 语 言 的优 势 上 击 败 盲 人 。 但事实 上，“我”作 为故事 中的人物 ，却 一直在 “盲人 ” 的 观 看 之 中 。 “我 ” 不 停 地 被 妻 子 与 盲 人 之 间关 系 与 举 动 所迷惑 ，尽 管事实 上什么 都没有发 生过 。但 “我”作为 叙述者似 乎失去 了 自我控制 能力，只能用充满 暗示性 的 语言描述 了他们 两人之 间的交流 。例如 “他把 还在燃烧 的烟蒂递给 我的妻子 ……她接过烟 蒂，递给 我”， 甚至 当妻子 的睡袍从腿上滑下来 的时候 ，“我伸手把她 的睡袍 重新拉起来 ，盖住她 ，就在那时 ，我看了那个盲人一眼。 何 必呢 ！州 不论作为叙述者还 是作为主角的 “我”，都 陷入 了被盲人凝视 的状态 中。
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Cathedral Raymond Carver大教堂雷蒙德．卡佛文章中英文分析《大教堂》是他最著名的短篇之一。
主人公的妻子多年来与一位盲人朋友保持联系。
一次，盲人朋友终于要来拜访这对夫妇，妻子兴致勃勃，主人公却非但不激动，反而竭力克制自己毫无理由的敌意和鄙夷。
和其他一些故事一样，主人公对生活这种无所谓和厌弃相混合的态度，始终是个没有提示的谜题。
除了从卡佛自己的生活经历入手，恐怕很难找到别的解释。
《大教堂》结尾，主人公在闭着眼睛和盲人一起画画的过程中，绷紧的神经终于放松下来。
不是四两拨千斤，而是花大量篇幅在天平一端放了过多郁闷之后，在另一端放一茶匙淡淡的欢欣意思意思。
然而，这便是雷蒙德·卡佛。
Cathedral Summary"Cathedral" opens with the narrator telling the reader in a conversational tone that a blind friend of his wife's is coming to visit them. The narrator is clearly unhappy about the upcoming visit. He then flashes back to the story of how his wife met the blind man when she worked for him as a reader. At the time, she was engaged to marry an officer in the Air Force. When she tells the blind man goodbye, he asks if he can touch her face. The touch of his fingers on her face is a pivotal moment in her life, something the narrator does not understand.Although his wife has maintained contact with the blind man for ten years, this will be the first time she has seen him since her marriage, subsequent divorce, and remarriage. Robert, the blind man, has just lost his wife and will be traveling to Connecticut to visit with her family. Along the way he will spend the night at the home of the narrator and his wife. His wife tells the narrator that Robert and his wife, Beulah, were inseparable.ThemesAlienation and LonelinessLike the characters in many of Carver's works, the main characters experience, or have experienced, alienation and loneliness. The narrator is unhappy in his work, jealous of his wife, and unconnected to other human beings. In addition to not being connected to others himself, he seems to resent his wife's connections to other people as well. When he speaks of the impending visit by the blind man he states, ''I wasn' t enthusiastic about his visit ... A blind man in my house was not something I looked forward to.’’ Further, once Robert arrives...The narrator is not an articulate man; consequently, the narration is filled with gaps that the reader must fill in.“Cathedral” Plot SummaryThe story’s narrator informs the readers that a friend of his wife’s, a man who happens to be blind, is on his way to visit. The narrator is not enthusiastic about the visit because blind people make the narrator uncomfortable, mainly because the narrator has no real experience with the blind.In addition to his uneasiness with the blind, the narrator is uncomfortable with his wife’s relationship with the blind man. The wife and Robert, the blind man, have maintained a close relationship via tape recordings mailed back and forth, and the narrator finds this unsettling. Despite the narrator’s feelings about the visit, Robert shows up, and the three of them dine together, and Robert and the narrator get to know each other.CharactersRobert: Robert, the blind man, is a long-time friend of the narrator’s wife. Robert has maintained a close relationship with the narrator’s wife since she worked for him years ago. Since then, they have stayed in touch. Robert works hard to get to know that narrator, too, while he is visiting them, pushing the narrator to talk and interact with him, bringing the narrator out of his shell of closed-off ignorance.The narrator’s wife also seems to have some internal struggle, mainly due to what is divulged about her past. She was married before and suffered from loneliness. She has attempted suicide in the past, and now she is in a difficult marriage once again. Surely, had the story been told from her perspective, the depths of her internal struggle would be brought further to light.At the end of “Cathedral,” the narrator has a life-changing moment, or an epiphany, while trying to tell Robert what a cathedral looks like. The narrator, when first trying to explain what the cathedral looks like, struggles for the word s. However, upon Robert’s encouragement, loosens up, and draws the cathedral with Robert, guiding his hand with a pencil onto paper.This is a close personal connection and intimate moment of communication for the narrator, and it impacts him greatly. The narrator is able to connect with Robert, and this is the moment where the narrator can put aside his insecurities and actually interact with someone else. It changes the narrator; he says, “It was like nothing else in my life up to now” (Carver 108).Throughout Cathedral, the boundaries the narrator has placed on his interaction and communication with others are eroded by Robert’s patient persistence in getting to know him. As a result, the narrator confronts his own insecurities and misconceptions, not just about Robert and the blind, but also about his own ability to interact with others.。