《 论海明威独特的文体风格——以老人与海为例》.docx

第一篇：《 论海明威独特的文体风格——以老人与海为例》.docx

从词源学来看, style 一词最初源自希腊语和拉丁语的stile, stilus等, 指的是物体, 即一根一端削尖的棍子, 人们可用它在蜡版上涂涂画画或写字。此后, style 的语意又有扩展, 如写字和说话的表达方式, 具有特色的用词风格, 以至由民族、时期、文学形式、个人特性等因素导致的、通过词语选择或搭配来表达思想的特定方式。这就有了我们今天常说的风格一词。

风格通常指艺术的三个方面: 形式要素或主旨;形式关系;性质或表达方式。形式要素是指构成某些作品特征的技术, 题材和特征。但在更多情况下,形式要素的特征缺乏时代的独特性, 因为变化的发生是不共时的。因此, 形式要素或主旨还不足以刻划一种风格的特征。为了区别不同的风格, 我们必须从形式关系去寻找特征, 那就是将这些特征结合起来的不同方法。性质指确定艺术品的日期和属性的标准, 通常是物质或外部的标准。性质的内容是那些表示征兆的细节, 其特征可由结构或表达的词语界定。对风格的研究就是要探索形式和表达之间的关系。组成风格的特征具有一个共同的性质, 那就是有一个调节各要素的主要特征。

文学作品是语言的艺术, 文学文体学关注于文学语言的研究。运用语言学的一些方法有助于研究文学语言, 有助于更加深入地探讨文学。文学语言的研究可以是多层次和多角度的, 包括句法结构、词汇选择、修辞方式、语言节奏、语气、语言的表现形式、小说的叙事角度与叙事方式等。在方法的运用上, 本文采用统计法和描写法。文学作品的风格通常由读者或研究者在阅读作品后感受到的。但语言风格的研究不能停止在感悟体验上, 还要用具体的语言材料来描写感悟体验到的东西以证明风格的存在, 使风格看得见摸得着。作者在创作中常常自觉不自觉的形成一定的语言习惯, 运用惯用的模式(Norm)来取得风格的一致(consistency)。统计法通过对语言材料的统计, 可以找到作家所遵循的一定的规律, 然而由于文学的复杂性、丰富性、加之语言本身的一些特性(如模糊性), 统计法并非在所有的情况下都能奏效。描写法现代语言学研究中普遍运用的方法, 可弥补统计法不足, 将语言风格的描绘更加完整、全面细致。

老人与海突出地表现了海明威的文体风格,这种风格表现为: 孤独的主人公及其内心独白, 缘情写景, 感情的表露极为含蓄, 非常简练的对话, 清新洗练的文字和反复锤炼的日常用语等。表达方式: 从感觉、视觉、触觉着手刻画形象, 将作者和读者间的距离缩短到最低限度, 由读者去体味凝聚在形象里的思绪。

冰山原则在老人与海中发展到登峰造极的程度。这不是纯粹的象征主义作品, 而是现实主义和象征主义相结合, 象征意义又很浓的一部作品。

这个故事的价值不在于它的表面意义, 而在于它的象征意义。海明威只写了八分之一真实的东西就把其它八分之七的东西及其意义含蓄地、象征地表现出来了。这就是他的现实主义和象征主义融合在一起的独特的冰山原则。

海明威所擅长的摄影机式的描写艺术。这在老人与海中达到了高峰。这主要表现在:

(一)客观冷静的画面, 尽力使读者感觉到好像是亲身经历一样。(二)鲜明, 生动的动作描写。老人打鱼过程中一系列的动作让读者清晰地了解详细过程。

(三)结构上的摄影的单纯性。人物少得不能再少, 情节不枝不蔓, 主人公性格单一而鲜明。这种单纯性是海明威小说艺术结构的重要特征。海明威在老人与海中成功运用了意识流手法。桑提亚哥老人在海上漂泊了两天两夜。这段时间里作者大量运用意识流来表达老人的心态。他不停地让自己的意识无边无际地流动, 海阔天空。作者不仅颠倒了事物的自然顺序, 而且还频繁地变换叙述和描写的角度。依靠人物的联想, 不仅深刻地揭示了主人公内心的自豪、坚毅及寻求支援的孤独感, 而且闪烁着深邃丰富的哲理光彩。这构成了小说的重要特色。

冰冻三尺, 非一日之寒。海明威的风格形成也经历了长时间的探索, 在这个过程中, 各种因素, 譬如他的人生经历, 他的性格, 他在文学创作上受益于几位文学大师的指导, 以及他的创作主题范围等等都促成了他创作风格的形成及走向成熟。早在海明威的中学时代他就显示出喜欢写作的兴趣, 经常积极投稿并被采用。这极大地鼓舞了他的写作兴趣。中学毕业之后他开始了他的写作生涯, 先是当上了肯萨斯星报的记者。新闻报道要求具有简洁、明快、朴实的文风。海明威在新闻界受到的严格的训练对他来说可谓是受益终身。持续一生的新闻写作极大地影响他了的文风的形成。

然而几年的新闻写作之后, 海明威逐渐意识到新闻语言与文学语言各有不同的要求。新闻语言重在写实, 侧重语言的准确性与语言所承载的有限的事实信息;而文学语言更倾向情感化和表现化, 文学语言所呈现的是意蕴无穷的丰富世

界。尽管此时从事新闻写作多年的海明威并没有显示出他有多少文学天赋, 但他开始走上自由探索的道路。1900-1911 年冬, 在舍伍德安德森指导之下,海明威开始大量阅读世界著名作家的作品, 从中汲取营养。1921 年秋意欲前往意大利的海明威经安德森点拨前往巴黎这个令其一生钟爱, 深深铭记在心的城市。战后的巴黎是个大师云集, 思想激进的前卫阵地。海明威在这里遇到了文坛先贤, 并受到他们的悉心指导, 让他终身受益。庞德给海明威提出很有价值的建议, 他告诉海明威过去的打作家都从不吝啬地向别人学习。庞德在创作意象派诗歌时指出: 诗要具体, 避免抽象;形式上要允许连行, 不要切成一行行;要精练, 不用废字, 不用修饰等等。庞德的这些主张尽管是针对诗歌创作提出的, 但对海明威的小说创作却有很大影响。例如, 庞德说: 艺术要寻觅出鲜明的细节, 在作品中呈现出来, 但不做任何说明。这位大诗人在各方面竭力地帮助海明威尽快走上作家之路, 甚至包括向公众和文艺界举荐这位才华初露的文学后进。此时在巴黎生活的二十世纪著名的现代作家和文艺批评家格鲁斯泰因则教会了海明威掌握文章的节奏和如何去重复。斯泰因还建议海明威到巴黎的博物馆去观摩当时印象派的绘画, 希望他能从绘画中悟到文学创作的技巧。果不其然, 海明威从法国后期印象派大师保罗塞尚那儿学到怎样把读者的目光引进某一场景, 并且牢地控制读者的目光。在某种程度上, 海明威的风景描写在透视、结构、色彩和线条的使用方面和塞尚具有同样的基本特性。

大师的指导加上个人的努力, 海明威终于形成了他自己独特的文体风格。老人与海是代表他文风的典型之作。

一、语言特色

海明威对词汇、句式、语气、对话模式、语法等的运用有他个人的偏好, 显示了他的语言特色。

(1)海明威喜用安格鲁萨格森词汇。这是英语中最核心, 最普通的词汇。它们在各个阶层, 各种场合, 各个历史阶段都被普遍使用, 因而不具备典型的文体意义。然而海明威一改过去矫揉造作, 一味追求豪华语汇的文风, 赋予这些毫无特色的词一种新的色彩和表达力。结果却创建了独特的文风。

(2)少用形容词和副词。在老人与海中, 很少出现形容词和副词。即使有的话也是一些极平常的词, 比如 big nice等。海明威就是故意地剥去浮华虚空的修

饰, 把事件的真相和本来面目不加修饰地展现给读者, 犹如新闻报道一般的客观与真实, 不掺加作家任何的个人意见。淡极始知花更浓, 海明威就这样简练含蓄地向读者讲述故事。

(3)短句为主, 穿插以长句, 以打破单调沉闷行文。大部分的研究者都认为海明威善用短句, 其句之短令人惊奇,平均每句长度为6 个单词, 而一般英语句子长度为10-15 个单词。海明威所用短句适于动作描写。在小说中, 捕鱼的过程及与鲨鱼的搏斗是瞬息变化的, 只有短句才能紧跟主题节奏的发展, 才能更好地展现惊心魄的动作, 更好地抓住读者的吸引力。海明威在行文的过程中同时又非常有技巧地穿插长句, 以打破短句并列的单调与枯燥。比如在小说开头背景介绍时, 作者就用了大量长句以至超长句来展开叙述。小说文本中简单句明显多于复合句。And But Then等连词频繁地出现。作者就是用这样的句型客观而又真实地展现主人公的行动, 不留人为雕琢的痕迹。

(4)时常出现重复。海明威刻意追求重复。不仅追求语意上, 还追求重复所产生的视觉听觉效果。并且不让人感觉是一种技巧, 似乎无意识中产生, 就

像说话人靠重复使自己的语意明确, 让听者渐次抓住话的本意。他较多地重复名词。

二、现代叙事手法

海明威在叙述故事时采用了巧妙的手法, 不断转移叙事视角, 使得叙述者在文中不露痕迹。在小说开头部分, 叙述者即为作者站在读者面前介绍必要的故事背景, 介绍故事主角老渔夫。等到主人公出场之后, 叙述者便隐藏在人物和事件的背后, 使读者几乎无法感知他的存在。此时, 作者使用两种方式展开叙事。一是由人物对话或是人物对话加上非常简练的描写与叙述来推动故事的发展, 给人以十分客观的印象。另一手法则是通过老人内心的意识来反映事件, 从而完全省略叙述者的介入和议论。

小说中大部分时间里只有一个主人公, 小说的叙述基本采用第三人称。作者巧妙大量运用了的直接引语和自由直接引语, 来增强了口述的效果, 对读者产生强烈的听觉刺激, 使读者产生对话感, 自己也被卷入到作品描绘的事件中去。通过大量的直接引语和自由直接引语, 小说运用意识流的手法展现了老人丰富、复杂、敏感的内心世界。全书26000 余字, 除部分片段客观叙述了他的身世和经历

外, 大量篇幅描写了他在海上捕到大马林鱼以及与鲨鱼搏斗的经过。其中老人心理活动(内心独白, 自由联想,潜对话)记述几乎占据全书一半以上篇幅。在作者笔下, 老人的思维活动有些是有秩序, 有条理的, 如想到捕鱼前应做的准备, 到海上去碰运气等;而有些思维活动是缺乏逻辑的, 带有很大的随意性和盲动性, 如在全力与鲨鱼搏斗时他突然想起垒球大赛, 又想起老年的孤单, 甚至想到被捕到的大马林鱼的可怜。所有心理描写都体现了老人在逆境中人的尊严, 人性的力量, 重压下优雅的风度, 以及坚持在肉体上可以被消灭, 但在精神上必须战胜敌人的信念, 有力地揭示了人生的意义, 深化了作品的主题。在老人与海中作者的叙事描述是客观的。除了对老人的心理描写外, 作者置身事外, 使用的全部是比较客观的第三人称, 作者似乎是个旁观者, 冷静矜持而又不露声色得讲述着眼前所发生的一切。他从不流露自己的个人感情, 更不对发生的一切进行评价, 超然地叙述事情发生的经过。海明威把一枚浸满人生酸甜苦辣的果子给读者去品味, 而自己却含而不露, 从不直言, 让读者去深刻地反思人生。海明威从现代绘画中悟到小说可以借鉴的方式, 在老人与海中有生动微妙的体现。过去的研究集中于小说主题意义上的宗教隐喻, 然而在形式上, 小说字里行间也创造出具有十足宗教意味的十字画面形象来传达宗教隐喻。十字形象自始至终贯穿在小说叙事中。小说开头老人肩扛桅杆便构成了十字形;故事中老人海上垂杆而钓的形象与海平面在远处看来又是一个交叉的十字。小说的结尾老人打鱼归来肩扛桅杆上坡, 及仰面而睡的睡姿，既呼应了小说的开头, 又再一次强化了它的宗教意味。

结论

海明威的作品以其独特的文体风格而著称。他的小说语言言近而旨远,平白而蕴籍。他善于用白描的手法写景, 寥寥几笔就能勾勒出一幅清爽光鲜的画面, 他的叙事艺术则以藏而不露的感情的流动支撑人物的行动。他的对话简洁至极, 素有电报风格之称。这是一位借助视觉、听觉、触觉的艺术家,他所追求的是作者和对象之间, 对象和读者之间的直接联系, 所以一切令人隔膜的形容词和比喻, 一切解释和探讨, 一切繁杂的心理活动和冗长的描写都被当作障碍物砍去, 只留下清晰简约的文字, 叫人耳目一新, 豁然开朗, 读者所见正是作者所见。从历史的、长远的观点来看, 海明威开创文体风格具有不可磨灭的影响。

第二篇：简论海明威《老人与海》的文体风格

（总的有点多不过你就前面的这段就不要写这么多或者不写）

论海明威《老人与海》的文体风格

《老人与海》(ne old mall and the sea)是欧内斯特·海明威(1899"--1961)晚年的成熟之作。凭借这篇小说，他获得了1954年的诺贝尔文学奖。海明威作为美国的现代著名作家，对现美国和世界文学产生过重要的影响。海明威一生经历丰富多彩，甚至带有某种传奇性。两次参加世界大战，虽然多次身负重伤，但他没有倒下去。他的特殊经历促使他在作品中对战争做了深刻的反思。另外，他还喜欢打猎、钓鱼、拳击等，这些经历都为他的小说创作提供了丰富的素材。小说叙述一个老渔民在海上捕鱼的故事。古巴渔民桑提亚哥是个捕鱼能手，他接连下海第八十五天才捕获了一条大马林鱼。在回港的途中，成群的鳖鱼游来吞食马林鱼，于是，桑提亚哥与鳖鱼进行了一场激烈的搏斗。小说的故事情节十分简单，含义却十分深刻。名义上桑提亚哥是个渔夫，实则是一个抽象化的人；他与鳖鱼的搏斗，是人生搏

斗的象征。小说通过人与自然的搏斗，热情讴歌了人类不可摧毁的精神力量，同时表达了作者对人类美好未来的憧憬。在作品中，无论写景还是刻画人物，他总是选用最普通的日 常用语，用词准确、贴切、形象。很少用名词和形容词，动词的使用频率较高。他还喜欢用短句，其文体十分简洁。这种简约的文体既有利于刻画少言寡语的渔民桑提亚哥这一人 物形象，又增添了节奏感，渲染了人鲨相斗的紧张气氛，突出了小说的主题。作品风格表现为：孤独的主人公及其内心独自，缘情写景，感情的表露极为含蓄，非常简练的对话，清 新洗练的文字和反复锤炼的日常用语等。表达方式是：从感觉、视觉、触觉着手刻画形象，将作者和读者之间的距离缩短到最低限度，由读者去体味凝聚在形象里的思绪。

一、作品充分体现“冰山”原则海明威以精通叙事艺术获得诺贝尔文学奖，而他的“冰 山”理论就是精通现代叙事艺术集中的体现。“冰山”原则在《老人与海》中发展到登峰造极的程度，它是现实主义和象征主义相结合，象征意义又很浓的一部作品。把他那清澈流 畅、朴实无华的散文体奠定了他作为那个时代最富有才华和艺术感染力的文体作家的地位。海明威的文体风格具有简洁性、含蓄性等特点。首先，他以简约、清新的文体净化了 文风。英国评论家赫欧贝茨称海明威的文体“引起了一场文学革命”。他说：“海明威是一个拿着板斧的人，砍伐了整座森林的冗言赘词，还原了基本枝干的清爽面目，通过疏疏落 落，经受过锤炼的文字，眼前豁然开朗，能有所见。”他在谈到《老人与海》的创作时指出：“《老人与海》本来可以写一千多页那么长，小说里有村庄中的每个人物，以及他们怎样谋生、怎样受教育、生孩子等等的一切过程。”但结果小说却被浓缩到只有五万多字，小说仅集中描写了老人在海上捕鱼的惊心动魄的三天。其次，他采用了多种简约、含蓄却内涵 丰富的表达形式。在《老人与海》中包含着丰富的潜台词，主人翁的情感，不论是失望、恐惧还是悲愤，从来不作过分的描写，它们总是凝结在艺术形象里，包含在简洁的景色描 写、人物动作中。他常用电报式的对话、内心独白、象征手法、意识流手法等来表达复杂的思想感情。这些含而不露的写法为读者留下联想的空间，从而达到厚积薄发，意到笔不 到的艺术神韵。

二、故事结构设置引人入胜的悬念

海明威在《老人与海》中一开始就设了两个悬念：老人一连80多天一条鱼也没捕到，他准备第85天继续捕鱼，他很背运，那么，他能否捕到一条大鱼?老人在感到他的力气可能不支的情况下，认为自己有信心有诀窍，认为像他这样一个“古怪”的老头子会做好一切的，那么，他有什么样的信心和诀窍?他的“古怪”又表现在哪里呢?这是读者迫切想要知道的，这股巨大的吸引力牢牢牵着你去寻找你所想知道的一切，最后读完作品就会得到比较圆满的答案：老人第85天捕到了一条特大鱼，不过最后又失去了；他的信心就

是战胜一切困难。取得最后的胜利；他的诀窍就是对付鱼的一切有利办法；他的“古怪”表现在他那坚毅不可战胜的倔强性格上，悬念随着情节的发展消失了，我们对作品的总体 精神也得以了解，这就使悬念设置的艺术效果。

三、整个作品成功采用象征寓意的手法

在《老人与海》这部作品中，大海象征人生舞台，象征世界，有美丽的外表，却有凶险的实质。它是桑提亚哥老人赖以生存的物质世界，是他生活的全部内容。因为他生来就是 捕鱼的海为他准备了神秘的大鱼，为他提供了充分展示其无比的勇气和毅力的场所，因此老人爱大海。“老人总是把海当作一个女性，当作施宠的或者不施宠的一个女人，要是 她做出了卤莽的或者顽皮的事，那是因为她情不自禁。”在小说中，好几处用“dark”来修饰大海，好像大海是从头到脚穿着黑色衣服的女性，她很仁慈，也会很残忍。老人与鲨鱼 的搏斗象征他不屈于命运，敢于拼搏的精神。而老人是大海的一部分，与海有着紧密的联系，海孕育了他，是海养育了他坚强的性格，当他回到港口时，战利品只是巨大的白骨

架，表面上老人是失败而归，但精神上，他并没有失败，他是成功的，他也曾捕到一条大马林鱼，正如老人所说“只怪我出海太远了”。老人梦到狮子表明：他没有放弃，依然有决 心。即使在最严峻的时刻，他也坚信并高喊：“人不是生来要给打败的，你尽可以把他消灭，但就是打不败他。”而小说中的那男孩，就是未来的象征。他把老人看作他的老师，一心 想跟随老人一起出海，象征着人的意志将世代相传，永不泯灭。

四、作品将绘画与摄影手法的描述应用到了高峰

《老人与海》的色彩以暗淡为主，这与它那悲壮的主题是一致的。作者呈现给我们的这幅油画，以大海之色——黑魃、深黑、深蓝为底色，有深度的阴影之感，以突出聚光作

用，使主要形象鲜明夺目，产生一种立体感；同时选择了对比强烈的白云i雪峰来与大海遥遥相对，色彩明亮，产生了醒目感；选择了富有生气的绿色海岸，淡青色的小山做大海 的边线，产生了柔美之感；选择了色彩斑斓的光柱做大海的中心色彩，反光作用强烈，整个画面顿时明亮起来，深色转为中间色，产生了活泼明快之感；加上月亮的倒影、鸟儿的 飞翔、老鹰的盘旋，构成了一幅脱俗的捕鱼图，也与老人捕鱼的艰难格调形成了和谐的统一，起到了渲染的作用，达到了完美的统一，显示出老人刚中有柔，柔中有刚的性格特

征。海明威所擅长的“摄影机式的描写艺术”这在《老人与海》中达到了高峰，这主要表现在：其一，客观冷静的画面，尽力使读者感觉到：好像是亲身经历一样；其二，鲜明，生动 的动作描写，老人打鱼过程中一系列的动作让读者清晰地了解详细过程；其三，结构上的摄影的单纯性，人物少得不能再少，主人公性格单一而鲜明。这种单纯性是海明威小说艺术结构的重要特征。

五、充分应用了现代叙事手法

海明威在叙述故事时采用了巧妙的手法，不断转移叙事视角，使得叙述者在文中不露痕迹。在小说开头部分，叙述者即为作者站在读者面前介绍必要的故事背景，介绍故事主角老渔夫。等到主人公出场之后'叙述者便隐藏在人物▲ 和事件的背后，使读者几乎无法感知他的存在。此时，作者使用两种方式展开叙事：一是由人物对话或是人物对话加 上非常简练的描写与叙述来推动故事的发展，给人以十分客观的印象；另一手法则是通过老人内心的意识来反映事件，从而完全省略叙述者的介入和议论。小说中大部分时间 里只有一个主人公’，J、说的叙述基本采用第三人称。作者巧妙大量运用了的直接引语和自由直接引语，来增强了口述的效果，对读者产生强烈的听觉刺激，使读者产生对话感，自己也被卷入到作品描绘的事件中去。通过大量的直接引语和自由直接引语，小说运用意识流的手法展现了老人丰富、复杂、敏感的内心世界。全书除部分片段客观叙述了他 的身世和经历外，大量篇幅描写了他在海上捕到大马林鱼以及与鲨鱼搏斗的经过，其中老人心理活动记述几乎占据全书一半以上篇幅。在作者笔下，老人的思维活动有些是有秩序，有条理的，如想到捕鱼前应做的准备，到海上去碰运气等了；而有些思维活动是缺乏逻辑的，带有很大的随意性和盲动性，如在全力与鲨鱼搏斗时他突然想起垒球大赛，又想起老年的孤单，甚至想到被捕到的大马林鱼的可怜。所有心理描写都体现了老人在逆境中人的尊严，人性的力量以及坚持在肉体上可以被消灭，但在精神上必须战胜敌人的信心。综上所述，海明威的《老人与海》以简约的文体风格向读者塑造了一个坚强的“硬汉”，更体现了“精通现代叙事艺术”的文体大师的高超的艺术手法。《老人与海》也是一部剔透玲珑的艺术精品小说的文字极其洗练简洁而又含蓄，充分体现了海明威的“冰山”理论。同时从其风格中体会到老人的“硬汉”性格。

第三篇：评《老人与海》中海明威写作风格和手法

评《老人与海》中海明威写作风格和手法

Abstract

Being distinguished from many greatest American writers, Hemingway is noted for his writing style.Among all his works, The Old Man and the Sea is a typical one to his unique writing style and technique.The language is simple and natural on the surface, but actually deliberate and artificial.Sometimes the simple style is made a little different.The dialogue is combined with the realistic and the artificial.The simplicity is highly suggestive, and often reflects the strong undercurrent of emotion.Occasionally, the author uses some figures of speech.Hemingway‟s style is related to his experience as a journalist, his learning from many famous writers, and most importantly, his conscientious effort in looking for a style of his own.The influence of his style is great all over the world.The Old Man and the Sea is full of facts, most of which comes from Hemingway‟s own experience.So the way to use facts is a very important writing technique in this novel.The facts in the novel are selected and used as a device to make the fictional world accepted.In the forepart of the novel, they are used to show the quality of Santiago‟s life, and are narrated simply and naturally;while in the latter part of the novel, they are used from inside Santiago‟s own consciousness and form part of a whole scheme of the novel.Keywords: Facts;Simplicity;Artificial;Iceberg Theory 中文摘要

在众伟大的美国作家中，海明威以独特的写作风格而著称。在他所有的作品中，《老人与海》最能体现他独特的写作风格和手法。这部小说语言看似简洁，其实包含了作者的精心揣摩和润色加工。有时为了突出某一部分，作者会采用长句代替短句。文中的对话内容真实、贴近生活，而表达形式则经过了加工。小说简洁自然的语言背后隐藏了深刻的意义和感情。文中还运用了比喻、拟人等修辞手法.还名位的这种独特风格与他当过新闻记者的经历有关,同时他兼菜各家之长,自成一体,形成了自己独特的创作方法和艺术风格。这种风格对整个世界文坛产生了重要的影响。

《老人与海》这部小说中运用了大量的事实,他们大多来自于作者亲身经历。海明威对这些事实精心选择,从而吸引读者的兴趣并使读者有一种身临其境的感觉。小说一开始用大量事实描写了主人公生活的环境,叙述风格简洁自然,未加任何感情色彩。随着情节的,大量的事实主要被运用于主人公的心理活动之中,而不是主要由作者来叙述。同时,这些事实构成了整个小说体系中不可缺少的一部分。

关键词：

事实；简洁；加工；冰山理论

Hemingway‟s Writing Style and Techniques in The Old Man and the Sea

Introduction

The Old Man and the Sea(1952)comes round at the finish of Hemingway‟s writing career.With its vivid characterization, its simple language, and the profound implicating it carries, it stands out as one of the excellent books Hemingway‟s former stature as the word‟s preeminent novelist after Hemingway‟s unsuccessful novel Across the River and into the trees(1950).The Old Man and the Sea earned its author the Pulitzer Prize in fiction for 1952, and was instrumental in winning him the Nobel Prize for Literature two years later.It is a short novel about Santiago, an old Cuban fisherman who has gone for 84 days without catch.Therefore the boy, Mandolin, who used to sail with him, is forced to leave him and catch in another ship.The old man insists on fishing alone and at last, he hooks an eighteen-foot, giant marlin, the largest he has ever known.But the fish is very powerful and disobedient.It tows the old man and his boat out to sea for 48 hours, with the old man bearing the whole weight of the fish through the line on his back.The old man, with little food and sleep, has to endure much pain and fights against his treacherous hand cramp.To his great excitement, on his third day at sea, he succeeds in drawing the weakened marlin to the surface and harpoons it.On his way home, he lashes marlin alongside his boat because it is too big to be pulled into the boat.But, unfortunately, the come across sharks in different numbers for four times.The old man fights to kill the sharks with as much might and many weapons as he can summon, but only to find a giant skeleton of his marlin left after his desperate defense.At last, Santiago, having lost what he fought for, reaches the shore and struggles to his shack.He falls into sound sleep, dreaming of Africa, and the lions again.His struggle wins him much respect.Among many great American writers, Hemingway is famous for his objective and terse prose style.As the last novel Hemingway published in his life, The Old Man and the Sea typically reflects his unique writing style.This paper aims to discuss the writing style and techniques in The Old Man and the Sea.Of course, Hemingway has used many techniques in this novel, such as realism, the creation of suspense, monologue, etc.And this paper focuses especially on the language style and one of the important techniques-the way to use facts in this novel.Hemingway is famous for his language.With much care and effort, he created a very influential and immediately recognizable style.“The style he created in his early work, such as In Our Time and The Sun also Rises, was almost too good.Like the style of certain painters, it tended to become a manner, rather than a flexible way of responding to experience and conveying fresh insights through words.”1 Among all his works, The Old Man and the Sea is the most typical one to his unique language style.Its language is simple and natural, and has the effect of directness, clarity and freshness.This is because Hemingway always manages to choose words “`concrete, specific, more commonly found, more Anglo-Saxon, casual and conversational.” 2 He seldom uses adjectives and abstract nouns, and avoids complicated syntax.Hemingway‟s strength lies in his short sentences and very specific details.His short sentences are powerfully loaded with the tension, which he sees in life.Where he does not use a simple and short sentence, he connects the various parts of the sentence in a straightforward and sequential way, often linked by “and”.In his task of creating real people, Hemingway uses dialogue as an effective device.It is presented in a form “as close to the dramatic as possible, with a minimum of explanatory comment.”3 Here is an example chosen from The Old Man and the Sea: „What do you have to eat?‟ the boy asked.„No, I will eat at home.Do you want me to make the fire?‟ „No, I will make it later on.Or I may eat the rice cold.‟

Here we can see that such interpolations as “he said” have frequently been omitted and the words are very colloquial.Thus the speech comes to the reader as if he were ing.Hemingway has captured the immediacy of dialogue skillfully and has made the economical speech connotative.But it is good to note that Hemingway‟s style is deliberate and artificial, and is never as natural as it seems to be.The reasons are as follows.Firstly, in some specific moments, in order to stand out by contrast and to describe an important turning point or climax, the style is made a little different:

He took all his pain and what was left of his long gone pride and he put it against the fish‟s agony and the fish came over on to his side and swam gently on his side, his bill almost touching the planking of the skiff, and started to pass the boat, long, deep, wide, silver and barred with purple and interminable in the water.5

The language in this one-sentence paragraph is different from other parts of the novel.Kenneth Graham has commented that the sentence builds up its parts in a carefully laborious sequence-“all his pain and what was left of his strength and his long gone pride”.It emulates the movement of the exhausted marlin and the physical strain of the old man.And it mounts to a heavy crescendo in the very un-prosaic inversion of adjectives-“long, deep, wide”-ending in the virtually poetic cadence, “interminable in the water.”6

The dialogue, too, is combined with the realistic and the artificial.Usually the content contains and the expression contains the artificial.In The Old Man and the Sea, the language style is very peculiar from Hemingway‟s other writings.This is because the novel is an English version of the Spanish that Santiago and Mandolin would speak in real life.“Since we are meant to realize that Santiago and Mandolin could not possibly speak like this, since English is not his tongue anyway, we are more likely to accept other artificialities of the dialogue.Using the device of a pretended „translation‟, which would be bound to stilt in any case, Hemingway can „poetize‟ the dialogue as he wishes.”7 The speakers are distanced from readers to a certain degree.And while their language taking on a kind of epic dignity, it does not lose its convincingness.Even slightly strange exchanges like the following become fairly acceptable.For example:

„You‟re my alarm clock‟, the boy said.„Age is my alarm clock‟, the old man said.„Why do old man wake so early? Is it to have one longer day?‟

„I don‟t know‟, the boy said.„All I know is that young boys sleep late and hard‟.„I can remember it‟, the old man said.„ I‟ll waken you in time.‟8

The simple sentences and the repeated rhythms hit at the profundities that the surface of the language tries to ignore.Its simplicity is highly suggestive and connotative, and often reflects the strong undercurrent of emotion.Indeed, the more closely the reader watches, the less rough and simple the characters appear.In Death in the Afternoon, Hemingway uses an effective metaphor to describe his writing style:

If a writer of the prose knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them.The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.9

Among all the works of Hemingway, the saga of Santiago is thought as the most typical one to this Iceberg Theory.The author seldom expresses his own feelings directly, nor does he make any comments or explanations.On the contrary, he tries to narrate and describe things objectively and blend his own feelings harmoniously to the natural narration and description this gives readers a pictures compression, from which-the 1/8 of the iceberg above water, they can learn the implying meaning and feelings of the author-7/8 of the iceberg under water.When Hemingway said of this story, “I tried to make a real old man, a real sea and real sharks”, he then went on to say, “But if I made them good and true enough they would mean many things.”10 So this novel has a great and significance conveyed by a compressed action.The core of the novel‟s action is fishing.To the hero, fishing is not simply of contest in life.It contains profound philosophic meaning.In addition, two details-the baseball match and the hand wresting with the Negro, like fishing, symbolize the contention in life.They compensate and enrich the inner meaning of the main plot of fishing.So the simplicity of the novel is highly suggestive.Occasionally, the author uses such figures of speech as metaphor, personification, etc to describe details.Hemingway likes to us natural things to make metaphors.For example, he describes Santiago‟s eyes as “the same color as the sea and were cheerful and undefeated.”11The metaphor reveals that the old man is closely linked with nature.At the beginning of the novel, a simile is used: “the sail was patched with flour sacks and, furled, it looked like the flag of permanent defeat.”12 Here Santiago‟s eyes are contrasted with the patched sail, which symbolize defeat, as reveals Santiago‟s unyielding character.So Hemingway has formed of narrative and dialogue, though natural and simple on the surface, is actually deliberated and artificial.It combines elements that are realistic with elements that are stylized and heightened.How Hemingway has formed such a writing style? The reason is related to his own experiences.“His use of short sentences and paragraphs and vigorous and positive language, and the deliberate avoidance of gorgeous adjectives are some of the traces of his early journalistic practices.”13 After leaving school at 17, he went to the Kansas City Star, which was one of the best newspapers in America at that time.He served as its eager and energetic reporter.As a journalist, Hemingway trained himself in the economy of expression.He once said that, during his working in Star, he had to learn to use simple sentences, which is very useful to him;and that the experience of working as a journalist would not do harm to a young writer, instead it is very helpful if he could cast it off timely.He laid stress on “speaking” with facts and objected groundless concoction in writing.His descriptions of details are full of factuality, and are as precise as news reports.The influence of Hemingway‟s language style is great.In the latter part of his life, Hemingway was known as “Papa Hemingway.”14 It refers mainly to his contribution to the development of a new writing style in America-the colloquial style.His simple word, short sentences and vividly colloquial language purity American novel.In England, which Miss Storm Jameson discussing “The Craft of the Novelist” in the January 1934 issue of The English Review, she advanced an explanation of Hemingway‟s popularity:

It is this simplicity, this appeal to our crudest interests, which explains Hemingway‟s success…In English at least his success has been largely with the intellectuals.Thy have praised his simplicity, his directness…15

When Hemingway‟s death was reported on 3 July 1961, the obituary in The Tines pronounced pontifically:

No history of the literature of our time will be able to ignore his achievement or his far-reaching influence…his last masterpiece, The Old Man and The Sea, he remained a solitary both in achievement and style…16

And Hemingway‟s influence as a stylist was “neatly expressed in the praise of the Noble Prize Committee about „his powerful style-forming mastery of the art‟ of writing modern fiction.”17 Apart from the language style, which The Old Man and the Sea is famous for, the writing techniques in this novel are also worth paying close attention to.A very important one of them is the way to use facts.The main events of the story seem to be based on a real incident, which is described by Hemingway in an article about fishing in the Gulf Stream in Esquire for April 1936.So the novel of full facts, such as the habit of fish, the technique of catching marlin, the weather, the sea, and so on.But the power of the novel lies in the way to use these facts.Firstly the facts are selected.“Hemingway‟s old man, boy, sea, fish, and sharks are not so much built up in our minds, detail by detail, facts by facts, as drive into our mind by the force and the sympathy with which the author himself shares in their imaginary existence.”18 Like any realist, he relies on selection.When the giant marlin finally surfaces, his tail “was higher than a big scythe blade and a very pale lavender above the dark blue water.”19 Sargasso weed is bleached and yellow by day;Tuna are silver when they jump out if the water, but blue-backed and gold-sides when swimming.Hemingway never described them with excessively, but choose some effective ones.He uses them with a sense of how colors shift and change in their relationship.Without selection, there can be no intensity, and compression.Secondly, the facts are used as a device to make the fictional word accepted.The novel is not simply a manual for us to study the technique to catch a fish or how to survive in a boat.The author tries to implicate people‟s imagination in what is happening by appealing to our love of practical knowledge.This shows “the facts are fundamentally a device, a technique of reassuring our sense of everyday values.”20 So they can help to make us accept more readily what the author has invented and made more dramatic than in everyday life.Still take the use of color as example: The clouds over the land now rose like mountains and the coast was only a long green line with the gray-blue hills behind it.The water was a dark blue now, so dark that it was almost purple.As he looked down into it he saw the red sifting of the plankton in the dark water and the strange light the sun made now.21

These facts show readers the process of fishing, which mostly comes from the author‟s own experience.From these facts, which are vivid, precise and terse, readers can learn a lot about how to catch a fish and can also feel as if they themselves were catching a fish.Then they will have the sense that what the author describes is real and believable.Therefore, as Kenneth Graham has said, many facts in the novel about fishing and about the sea have a double function: they satisfy people‟s sense of the real word.And this is what underlies Hemingway‟s famous statement that his intention was always to convey to the reader “the way it was.”22

All in all, Hemingway‟s language in The Old Man and the Sea is simple and natural on the surface, but actually deliberate and artificial.“The language is rarely emotional.Rather, it controls emotions: it holds them in.”23 The forming of this distinct style is related to Hemingway‟s own experience.And the influence of this style is not only within America but also all over the world.The facts in the novel are selected and used as a device to make the fictional world accepted.Unlike other novelists who add allegorical meanings to their facts, Hemingway uses the facts simply and naturally, without any emotion.In the latter part of the novel, instead of being narrated by the author, the facts are used from inside Santiago‟s own consciousness, and form part of a whole scheme of the novel.Besides what have been mentioned above, other techniques in The Old Man and the Sea, such as realism, monologue, the creation of suspense and so on, are also very successful.All these show Hemingway‟s superb artistic attainments as a Nobel Prize winner.Notes:

1.Kenneth Graham, “commentary” in York Notes: The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1991), p41

2.Chang Yaoxin, “Chapter 14” in A Survey of American Literature,(TianJin: Nankai University Press, 1987), p304

3.Mary A.Campbell, “Study Guide” in The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1998), p126

4.Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1998), p8 5.Ibid, p83

6.Kenneth Graham, “commentary” in York Notes: The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1991), p42 7.Ibid, p45

8.Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1998), p20

9.Ernest Hemingway, Death in the Afternoon,(New York, 1932), p138

10.Times, 13 December 1954.11.Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1998), p2 12.Ibid, p1

13.Chang Yaoxin, “Chapter 14” in A Survey of American Literature,(TianJin: Nankai University Press, 1987), p295

14.A.E.Hotchner, Papa Hemingway,(New York: Random House, 1966), p1

15.Roger Asselineau, ed, “Hemingway‟s English Reputation” in The Literary Reputation of Hemingway in Europe,(New York: New York University Press, 1965), p15

16.Ibid, p10

17.Chang Yaoxin, “Chapter 14” in A Survey of American Literature,(TianJin: Nankai University Press, 1987), p305

18.Kenneth Graham, “commentary” in York Notes: The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1991), p25

19.Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1998), p79

20.Kenneth Graham, “commentary” in York Notes: The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1991), p29

21.Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1998), p26

22.Kenneth Graham, “commentary” in York Notes: The Old Man and the Sea,(Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1991), p29

23.Peter B.High, “Chapter 11” in An Outline of American Literature,(New York: Long man Inc., 1986), p147

Bibliography:

1.Chang Yaoxin, “Chapter 14” in A Survey of American Literature.TianJin: Nankai University Press, 1987

2.Kenneth Graham, “commentary” in York Notes: The Old Man and the Sea.Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1991

3.Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea.Beijing: world Publishing Corporation, 1998 4.崔道怡等编.《“冰山”理论：对话与潜对话》工人出版社，1987.5.刁绍华.《海明威》.辽宁人民出版社, 1980.6.傅景川.《二十世纪美国小说史》.吉林出版社, 1996

第四篇：从《老人与海》看海明威作品的写作风格（定稿）

[摘 要]本文从文学文体学的角度对《老人与海》独特的文体特色进行较为系统的分析, 运用统计法和描写法揭示其风格要素即小说的语言材料、表达方式和叙事方式的具体特征, 进而指出《老人与海》是海明威客观、简洁、朴实的美学思想的完美体现。[关键词]海明威 语言特色 现代叙事手法 老人与海 简介

美国着名小说家海明威是一位不平凡的语言大师, 他以“精通现代叙事艺术”和“在当代风格所发挥的影响”而荣获1954 年诺贝尔文学奖。文学语言可分为两种: 一种是叙事语言, 另一种是人物话语。海明威正是通过这种创新的语言艺术, 创造出一种独特的文学散文风格。本文从《老人与海》入手, 对其语言特色和叙事手法简单的分析。粗略的探析了其独特写作风格及形成原因和影响。

一、语言特色——电报风格

以《老人与海》为例, 从中可以看出海明威对词汇、句式、语气、对话模式和语法等运用了他个人的偏好, 显示了他的电报风格语言特色。海明威倾向用英语中最核心、最普通的词汇。从《老人与海》的用词和句子结构不难看出, 文章的用词很简单, 很少用表示抽象意义的大词。如: Aware that he will need to keep his strength, the old man makes himself eat the tuna he caught the day before,which he had expected to use as bait.While he cuts and eats the fish with a claw under the strain of taking all the fish‘s resistance.Stantiago is angered and frustrated by the weakness of his own body, but the tuna, he hopes,will reinvigo2rate the hand.As he eats, he feels abrotherly desire to feed the

marlin too.(老人清楚, 他必须得保持体力, 所以就强迫自己吃前一天捕获到的、原打算做诱饵用的金枪鱼。在右手切鱼、吃鱼的时候, 他那只被勒伤的左手开始抽筋, 而且, 由于那条大马林鱼在抵抗, 他必须拼尽全力拉住鱼线, 所以那只手搐得像一只爪子。桑提亚哥对自己的身体状况既感到气馁, 又忿恨不已, 他希望金枪鱼能使他的伤手恢复劲力。他吃鱼的时候, 产生一种强烈的愿望, 想喂一喂那条马林鱼, 像对兄弟那样。)

这段描写的是老人在与鱼僵持的几个简单的动作。就其用词而言, 喜欢用动词和名词写作, 少用形容词以增强动感。而且几乎所有的动词和名词都是简明、易懂。动词如: need, make, cut, eat, use, take。将形容词变成动词和名词的形式, 如: an2gered, weakness。从句子结构频繁使用He does something.简单的句式。主语是he, 谓语以使役动词为主。由于使役动词的基本意义是指一个动作发生并完成, 因此这类句型就成了动作的执

行者做一件事, 并使其行为产生预期的结果。在《老人与海》中, 这类句型和描写具体行为的短小动词占据主导地位, 所以从整体上传达出一个基本意义: 老人是个行动者, 他的行动都达到了预期目的。这完全符合海明威塑造“硬汉”形象的一贯追求。

在《老人与海》中, 作者充分使用贯穿小说的人物桑提亚哥和他忠实的助手兼朋友小诺曼林之间的对话或对话加上非常简练的描写与叙述来推动故事的发展。其中他们谈论最多的是棒球赛的最新战况, 探讨老人的偶像—狄马吉奥在球场的表现。如:“Tell me about the baseball, ”the boy asked h im.“In the Am erican League it is the Yankees as I said, ”the old man said happily.“T hey lot today, ”the boy told him.“T hat means nothing.T he great D im aggio is him self again.”

“T hey have o ther m en on the team.”

“Naturally.But he makes the difference.In the other league, between Brook lyn and Philadelphia I must take Brooklyn.But then I thnk of Dick Sisler and those great drives in the old park.”

省去不写, 这只会增强你的冰山重要的是那没有显露出来的部分。”这是海明威在《老人与海》出版后回答《巴黎评论》记者采访时的谈话。我们来看另一段摘自《老人与海》的片段: Just then “Therewasnothingeverlike them.Hehitsthe longestball I have ever seen.”

从表面来看, 只是老人的兴趣爱好, 实则表现桑提亚哥老人坚信伴随84 天一无所获的背运马上就会结束, 由此而引出故事的开端, 老人去更远的水域捕鱼。《老人与海》通过使用第三人称, 不流露个人感情, 超然叙述事情发生的经过。作者通过老人内心的意识来反映事件, 进而流露出作者本人的价值观和世界观。

二、现代叙事手法—冰山理论

想知道的话, 我一直用冰山理论指导我的写作。冰山有八分之七在水下, 只有八分之一是显露出来的。任何你知道的, 你都可以电报风格主要是用于说明他谴词造句的简洁、朴实, 但这并不代表海明威小说的语言艺术, 因为海明威小说在简单的表层之下蕴藏着许多内涵。借用他自己的观点叫“冰山理论”:“如果

the stern line came taut under his foot,where he had kept the loopof the line,andhedroppedhisoarsandfelt the weight of the sm all tuna’sshiveringpullasheheldthelinefirm andcom 2menced to haul it in.The shivering increased as he pulled in and he could see the blue back of the fish in thewater and the gold of his sides before he swung him over the side and into the boat.He lay in the stern in the sun, compact and bullet shaped, his big, unintelligent eyes staring as he thumped his life out a2gainsttheplankingoftheboatwith thequick shiveringstrokes ofhisneat,fast-movingtail,Theoldmanhithimonthehead for kindness and kicked him , his body still shuddering, under the shade of the stern.(就在这个时候, 船尾的鱼线在他脚下突然绷紧, 因为他在那打了一个环。于是他放下船桨, 抓牢鱼线, 开始往回拉, 他感觉到金枪鱼把鱼线拉得沉甸甸地抖动。他越往回拉, 鱼线抖动得就越厉害, 接着他看见了水中浮动的蓝色鱼脊和金灿灿的两侧, 之后他把鱼从船帮处拉了上来, 扔到船里。鱼躺在船尾, 阳光照射着, 它身体密实, 形如子弹, 它把身体一次次重重地摔到船板上, 匀称、动作迅速的鱼尾快速颤抖着, 反复扫动着, 两只大而无神的眼睛一直瞪着, 最后一点力气也没有了。老人友好地打它的头, 又踢它, 鱼的身体在船尾的背阴处仍在抖动着。)

这段描写桑提亚哥在第二天捕获金枪鱼经过, 这段文字是海明威简洁煽情的典范, 传神且优美。作者也正是通过使用最简单、最普遍的字眼来表达具体但又有诗歌意象的内容。上面场景的描写, 即使是对那些根本没有捕鱼经验的人, 也会让他们有身临其境之感。除此之外, 作者在此段最后用“for kindness”,“友好”两个字, 以及在上一段文字的最后作者用“brotherly”,“兄弟般的”字眼来传达作者与金枪鱼的关系, 看似自相矛盾, 实则将作者的心境体现得淋漓尽致。这几个字虽少, 却能使读者全面地了解到老人的个性。海明威在表现桑提亚哥与他所处的那个世界的关系, 他对世界的尊重时, 并未提及老人内心最深处到底想些什么, 而是刻意选择了这两个字, 从感情深处刻画出桑提亚哥是一个什么样的人。海明威把这种通过简单语言表达深刻意义的“冰山原则”运用得巧妙, 正如冰山顶端能够揭示出隐藏于水下的巨大冰块的品质一样, 潜移默化地揭示出人类最伟大的真理。

三、象征主义

象征主义是海明威小说语言艺术的又一大特色。甚至有人称海明威是象征主义作家。他善于依据作品内容运用象征手法来展现主体。在《老人与海》中, 基督教象征主义手法, 特别是基督受难的形象在这一着作中, 自始自终得到充分的体现。老人在和马林鱼搏斗的过程中, 手掌被鱼线勒割得血肉模糊, 虽然这说明了桑提亚哥的艰辛, 说明了他甘愿献身的精神, 但伤口却寓指基督身上的圣伤痕, 海明威一心要把桑提亚哥塑造成一个像基督一样的殉难者。鲨鱼袭来时, 老人立即发出一声“像是一个人的手被钉子钉穿在木板上时”所发出的惨叫。再有, 老人肩上扛着船桅, 艰难地攀爬小山, 向村里走去的情形会使人联想到基督朝着卡尔加里艰难行进的场面。甚至桑提亚哥精疲力竭地扑倒在床上的动作, 他脸朝下、双臂直伸、手心朝下的姿势, 都会让人联想到基督在十字架上的惨景。此外, 在故事悲剧性的结尾时, 最后的画面寓意极其深刻: 他拖着沉重的步子走进小屋睡下了, 梦中他见了非洲的雄狮—勇敢无畏的象征。

四、海明威独特写作风格的形成原因及影响

海明威的简洁、朴素的散文文体风格, 其所以形成是有其原因的。首先, 继承。海明威十分推崇的前辈作家是美国现实主义作家马克·吐温, 他认为,“一切现代文学来自马克·吐温的一本书《哈克贝利》, 这是我们最好的一本书”。舍伍德·安德森采用了一种随随便便、信手拈来的风格。这些都对海明威的创作产生了十分重要的影响。第二, 生活经历。一个作家的文体风格往往是作家本人, 即“文如其人”。而这个“人”不是孤立存在的, 而是其文化背景、社会环境和生活经历等因素的综合体。他从小受父亲影响, 喜欢打斗、第一次世界大战爆发时踊跃报名参加, 大大地丰富了他的阅历。贯穿一生的记者身份和崇尚毅力的硬汉性格, 使他的作品中的“电报风格”语言特色尤为明显。第三, 独创精神。为了适应快节奏的社会生活, 也为塑造行动型的人物性格, 开创了他“冰山理论”指导的叙事风格。

结语

海明威的作品以其独特的文体风格而着称。他的小说言近而指远,平白而蕴籍。他善于用白描的手法写景, 他的叙事艺术则以藏而不露的感情变化支撑人物的行动, 他的对话简洁, 素有“电报风格”之称, 叙事则充分体现其“冰山理论”。他的写作开创了一代文风, 其影响将是永恒的。

参考文献

[1]Donaldson,Scott.ErnestHemingway.[M ].上海: 上海外语教育出版社.戴金喜.论海明威独特的文体风格.[J ].南平: 南平师专报2006(1), 63-66.董衡巽.海明威研究[M ].北京: 中国社会科学出版社, 1980.刘瑛.从《白象似的群山》看海明威作品的语言特点.[J] 乌鲁木齐: 乌鲁木齐职业大学报.2005(12), 116-118.欧内斯特·海明威.《老人与海》[M ].南京: 译林出版社, 1999.张国敬译, 欧内斯特·海明威.《老人与海》[M ].天津: 天津科技翻译出版社,

第五篇：论海明威《老人与海》的语言特色及象征意义

论海明威《老人与海》的语言特色及象征意义

【摘 要】《老人与海》是美国作家海明威 20世纪 50年代的优秀作品。文章就该作品的词汇运用、句法特点、修辞手法象征意义以及极具张力的语言风格探讨作品的成功之处。

【关键词】《老人与海》；语言特色；象征意义

《老人与海》可以说是海明威晚期最重要的作品。作品中主要人物桑提亚哥集中了海明威一生致力创作的“硬汉式”人物的基本特征：沉默寡言，富于内在的勇气和尊严，性格冷峻，与主流社会格格不入。但桑提亚哥又是一个全新的形象，在他身上没有愤世嫉俗的浮躁，没有迷乱、挣扎的绝望情绪。他心境明净，宽厚稳实，像一位历经沧桑的彻悟者。

《老人与海》中的词汇使用多名词与动词，甚少使用形容词。所表达的内容直接诉诸人的听觉、视觉和触觉，富有强烈的感性效果。从句法结构上看，段落短而均衡，句子结构简化，很少使用分词句和复合句型。句子简短有力，与所叙述的情节和表达的主题达到了高度一致。另外，海明威在书中用的比喻也独具特色。他的比喻所创造的意象不落俗套，清新出奇，感觉真切。海明威还通过象征性描写隐晦地表达了他对美国现实的极度悲观。他的语言迷人，富有力度，以至于他的语言风格形成了一种独具价值和影响力的文学现象。很多人认为，他简单、新鲜和干净的散文格式是其名垂不朽的真正原因。1954年。瑞典皇家科学院以“精通现代叙事艺术”（mastery of the art of narrative）为由，授予海明威诺贝尔文学奖，这是对海明威叙事艺术的最高评价。

本文试从词汇运用、句法特点、象征意义以及极具张力的语言风格来探讨《老人与海》的成功之处。

一、语言特色

（一）词汇运用

《老人与海》总字数27394个单词。其中所用字数最多的前20个单词是the（2429），and（1315），he（1172），of（559），I（508），it（193），to（461），his（456），was（441），a（399），in（384），man（304），that（298），old（286），fish（285），but（236），him（230），on（207），with（207），had（205）合计10875，占总字数的39.7%。

从作者所使用的这些代词、冠词、介词、动词和名词可以看出，海明威使用的语言是简单的英语。董衡巽在《美国现代小说家论》里说到：“这是现代的写法，最好的写法―英语就得这么写。坚持这么写，不要浮华花哨，不要赘言冗长。你想起一个形容词，就消灭它……形容词挤在一块儿，文章没力，离远一点就有力。一个人一旦养成好用形容词的习惯，或者写的冗长，花哨，就好比染上其他恶习一样很难改掉”。

作者大量的选择了名词和动词，很少使用形容词。例如，在曼诺林回忆起和桑提亚哥捕到大鱼的情景时，其语言声色俱备，给人以感官上的极大享受：

“I can remember the tail slapping and banging and the thwart breaking and the noise of the clubbing.I can remember you throwing me into the bow where the wet coiled lines were and the feeling the whole boat shiver and the noise of you clubbing him like chopping a tree down and the sweet blood smell all over me.”

在这里，“slapping” “banging” “clubbing”和“chopping”等词产生了不同的音响效果，诉诸人的视觉，“wet”，“shiver”，诉诸人的触角，而“sweet”一词又嗅觉。这段文字读起来犹如身临其境，伸手可触。

（二）句法特点

《老人与海》的句子简短，句法结构特别简单。从语法部分的数据可以看出《老人与海》句子简短，平均长度仅为14.4个单词，明显低于语料库显示的一般句子的长度（17.8）。而且句法结构特别简单，非独立分句与独立分句之比仅为0.63?U1，大大低于语料库显示的标准样（1.63?U1），显然，文中有许多由“and”连接的短小陈述句，短小简洁的句子使叙述富于鲜明的节奏，动感强烈。

句子间的衔接手段非常简单。许多句子是由人称代词he或所有格his来连接的（38.3%）。“利用关联词连接的句子较少，而利用可替换的近义词来连接的句子只用两个。英语是一种重形合的语言，可在《老人与海》中，居然有不少句子之间没有明确的衔接手段（9.2%），这使语言更简约含蓄了”。

综上所述，在语法和句子的衔接层次上，《老人与海》都表现出简洁、精炼的特点：句子结构短小，名词和形容词的出现频率很低，动词丰富而准确，再加以方向性副词的搭配以及简练的句子衔接。

二、象征意义

象征的基本含义是用某种知觉或想象的图像标示来暗示某种不可见的意蕴，它可以通过意象来诱发欣赏者的经验和情感的表现，使文学作品产生强盛的生命力和永久的艺术魅力。作为现实主义作家，海明威深知此道，运用象征手法将抽象的思想变成具体的物象，再让读者从具体的物象激发经验想象和情感的表现，去挖掘其中的意蕴。海明威在《老人与海》中通过局部修辞手段的象征手法来赋予这部小说以象征性。

（一）故事的主人公桑提亚哥是生命英雄的象征。他敢于向人生的种种磨难宣战，向人的生命的极限挑战并超越它，以生命换荣誉、换尊严，从前所未有的角度震撼人心地展示了人的生命价值。在与大海、大马林鱼和鲨鱼的较量中，他以自信、勇敢、强悍的英雄形象奏响了一曲深沉低回的大提琴协奏曲。

（二）狮子是生命力与青春的象征。小说中一个极其重要的象征物，是桑提亚哥魂系梦萦的那群狮子，它代表旺盛的生命力和青春，象征着老人对力量的追求和对强者的向往，每次梦见那群狮子后都给老人增添了无穷的精神力量。群狮象征着同情弱者，仇视邪恶，既能创造人间奇迹，又能战胜各种邪恶势力的团结友爱的群体。群狮的个体模式表现在老人桑提亚哥同鲨鱼搏斗到手无寸铁的风度，是海明威笔下硬汉形象的高度概括和升华，标志着后期海明威在思想上的发展与进步，寄托着他的理想及对人类的希望。作者在小说中五次提到狮子。

（1）“When I was your age I was before the mast on a square rigged ship that ran to Africa and I have seen lions on the beaches in the evening.”

（2）He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach.（3）I wish he’d sleep and I would sleep and dream about the lions.（4）After that he began to dream of the long yellow beach and he saw the first of the lions come down onto it in the early dark and then the other lions came and he rested his chin on the wood of the bows where the ship lay anchored with the evening off-shore breeze and he waited to see if there would be more lions and he was happy.（5）The old man was dreaming about the lions.小说结尾（5）梦到狮子，这是一个富有寓意的回声，体现了海明威的人生哲学与道德理想，即不向命运低头、永不服输的斗士精神和积极向上的乐观人生态度，虽然他拖回的只是一副鱼骨架，但他在精神上却始终是个胜利者。

（三）老人的英雄气概唤回了孩子的回归

在故事的结尾处，当孩子看到那苍白的鱼骨架和老人那伤痕累累的双手时，he started to cry，and all the way down the road he was crying.孩子心痛的不仅是老人那双流过血的手，更心痛的是老人历尽艰险才得到的战利品竟然被鲨鱼咬噬得一干二净，更心痛的是老人在历经长达八十四天的凄惶失意和极度紧张艰苦的考验后所换来的却只是更大的失望。孩子的放声大哭使读者产生强烈的听觉感，深深地撞击着读者的心弦，甚至掩卷之后仍依稀可闻。这哭声包含着孩子对老人的无限崇敬和深深的同情。这哭声显然是孩子在老人的英雄气概感召下性格走向成熟的起点，象征孩子的回归。这一象征手法的处理昭示出他是在通过一条相当新的路子返回到他的起点，表达了作品的乐观主义倾向。

《老人与海》运用深刻的象征涵盖了整部作品丰富的思想主题，赋予老人桑提亚哥、大海、马林鱼、鲨鱼、群狮、小男孩、老人那抽筋的左手等以丰富的象征和寓意。简练的语言风格使人于平淡处感到新奇，从一粒沙中看一个世界，从有限的文字中看到丰富的思想内容，正像海明威在作品中通过主角桑提亚哥口中所说，在人的生存与命运抗争中，“But man is not made for defeat” he said“A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” 这一深刻的信念揭示了本篇故事的主题，即结局是否圆满并不重要，重要的是人在生存中不断挑战的精神及在失败中保持人的尊严的价值。

参考文献

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