《River Town》学习理解文学作品中阈限概念

来源：发布时间:2022-08-24 22:04:45

本节课的重点是通过Peter Hessler在《River Town》中描写的个人初到涪陵时面临的生活及文化的改变，学习理解文学作品中阈限（liminality）的概念。

本次课程我们阅读了《River Town》的第九章到第十二章，并引用了Adam Goodheart在《New York Times》上发表的书评《The Last Days of Fuling》，对书中的内容进行理解分析。本节课的重点是通过Peter Hessler在《River Town》中描写的个人初到涪陵时面临的生活及文化的改变，学习并理解文学作品中阈限（liminality）的概念，并且对书中反映的上世纪的涪陵地区的环境背景进行讨论，进行自我思考。

- 课程目标-

1. 学习阈限（liminality）的概念，分析《River Town》中阈限的体现

2. 讨论《River Town》中反映的的历史背景及环境，并进行自我思考

-上课内容-

1. 课程引入

由于本次课程是《River Town》的最后一节阅读课，老师首先引导同学们对《River Town》中涉及的情节内容及文学知识进行自我总结与反馈，写下自己对《River Town》这本书的理解。

同学们积极分享了对《River Town》的想法：

Hessler通过具体详实的描写，形象地描绘了上世纪中国农村地区的人们如果适应环境的变迁以及外来文化的影响。其中不乏有一些日常琐事，但是却非常有意思，比如人们是如何一步步适应了瓶子的使用。此外，K同学还分享了文章中有趣的片段：

“I picked up the dictionary again and fumbled through it until I found the correct term: gu’er. I apologized again for the mistake and she seemed relieved; yes, she said, Li Peng had been adopted by Zhou Enlai. I left it at that—I was embarrassed to have pushed her so far, even if it had been partly unintentional. The next class she asked me pointedly why the American government helped its athletes take performance-enhancing drugs, and we went around again, this time with me on the defensive. And so it went every other week, our Opium Wars raging as the countdown to Hong Kong’s return drew closer and closer.” （Hessler, 192）

K同学说，“这一部分内容非常有意思，作者与小女孩由于立场不同而‘互相伤害’，而且此类事情其实现在也在不断发生”。

2. 课堂阅读

随后，老师与同学们共读通过一段文章节选引入本节课的重点内容“阈限（liminality）”的概念：

“I wish we could live the rest of our lives on these rocks,’ I said. ‘Why isn’t it possible to just live at the edge of both, the ocean and the land?’

Of course I knew why. The edge was an uncomfortable and dangerous place for both of us. The rocks were nowhere to live. I had wanted him to come to my world for that same reason.

‘One day these rocks won’t be here,’ he said. ‘The ocean will waste them away.’

‘Then we could find new rocks,’ I said.

‘Eventually you have to choose,’ he said. ‘That’s how the story has always been and that’s the way it will be forever.’

‘But why?’ I asked.

‘Well,’ he said, thinking, ‘I guess because the choice is always there.”

——Melissa Broder, The Pisces

老师启发同学们：“就像在海洋与陆地边缘的岩石，阈限也指代了两者之间的一种模糊状况。”

“In the universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between them, there are doors.”

——William Blake

“宇宙中存在介于清楚与不清楚之间的事物，也可以被看作阈限，”老师继续通过生活中的事物启发同学们对阈限进行初步的理解。

3. 课上讨论

为了同学们更独立自主地学习阈限的概念，老师让同学们先进行了自主的资料查阅，理解它的含义并进行举例，分析《River Town》中如何体现阈限的概念：

What is the definition/meaning of “liminality”?

How is the concept relevant to Hessler’s experience in River Town?

通过几分钟的资料查阅，同学们对阈限有了自己的看法：

· M同学：I think “liminality” means overcoming a threshold, and it is relevant to River Town because of the author’s transition from one culture to another culture.

· K同学：Is it something like a turning point?

听完同学们的理解，老师对阈限进行了定义：It is an overlapping space between “no longer” and “not yet”. 为了让同学们进行更好的理解，老师又引导同学们使用历史故事进行举例：

What are some instances of liminality for society?

Hint: think about historical events.

E.g. French revolution exemplifies a liminal state that one society underwent.

通过几分钟的思考，同学们根据自己的理解举出了历史中的阈限的例子：

· M同学：Liminality for the Red Army against Chang Kai Shek?

· K同学：Two world wars?

经过老师的引导，同学们自主掌握了阈限的含义并结合事例实现了进一步理解。学习完文学知识后，老师开始带领同学们对《River Town》的背景以及其中体现的中西文化生活差异进行分析和讨论，并引用了Adam Goodheart在《New York Times》上发表的书评《The Last Days of Fuling》，分析书中体现的以外国人视角展开观察的上世纪涪陵地区的历史文化环境：

He (Hessler) vividly recounts how, on arrival, he underwent an unsettling Gulliverian transformation: he grew suddenly taller (at 5 feet 9, he towered over nearly all Fulling’s inhabitants), his skin turned a funny color, his nose sprouted to an impossible length, and he found himself practically illiterate, with an Oxford degree in English but the Chinese-language skills of a toddler. Oddest and most telling of all, his eyes changed color; Hessler was surprised to find that his students, in their journals, described them as blue. “My eyes are hazel -- but my students had read that foreigners had blue eyes, and they saw what they wanted to see.”

同学们根据书中的内容及书评的总结，发表了自己的观点：这段内容反映了传统中国人对西方人的刻板印象，比如蓝眼睛和金头发，有趣的是，即使Hessler就在他们面前，他们仍然很难抛弃这种固有印象；上世纪农村地区的发展状况阻挠了信息的有效沟通，因此当地人只能通过“传说”的形式来了解国外信息，往往无法对信息进行准确的传递。

4. 拓展问题

通过阅读《River Town》中描写的上世纪中国农村地区的生活状况，老师引导同学们进行发散思维，将自身带入Hessler的经历中，思考Hessler作出的人生选择：

How do you see Hessler’s choice to be a Peace Corp member, teaching English in rural China in his 20s? Would you make similar choices like Hessler?

老师首先发表了自己的看法：如果是自己的话，可能不会做出这样的选择，因为上世纪的农村地区的确生活艰苦，而且作为精英阶层，放弃原本富足的生活会是一个非常艰难的选择。随后，老师鼓励同学们自由发表自己的看法，对这个开放性问题进行回答。同学们将自身带入情景中，也发表了自己的想法：如果是自己的话，可能也不会像Hessler这样做出这种艰难的选择，主动适应上世纪农村地区的生活条件；当然，如果拥有很大一笔财富，可能会选择去农村支教一段时间，但是目前的经济状况并不允许这一点。

-同学精彩回答-

老师提问：同学们对《River Town》中涉及的情节内容或文学知识有什么理解？可以从任何角度进行分析。How do you think about/understand the story in River Town?

M同学：I think River Town is a very interesting journal basically based on the author’s experience in Sichuan Province. It talks about the everyday life and the traditions of the Chinese people and compares it to western traditions and how the author believes would’ve happened in his home country. From what I have read, the author seems to be enjoying his experience in China, taking in every single detail of how Chinese people have been moving forward and accepting western products, etc. I remember the author commenting about how Chinese people would accept western products such as bottles very rapidly, even though it is Made in China, the author explains the links between how the cab drivers would start using these bottles, and then business men, and then the XIAOJIE, even the old people started to utilize these products. The author I feel like is extremely descriptive, creating a realistic image in our mind about what he is seeing.

老师提问：同学们如何看待Hessler选择在20几岁时来到中国农村地区进行支教的行选择？如果是你的话，你会做出同样的选择吗？How do you see Hessler’s choice to be a Peace Corp member, teaching English in rural China in his 20s? Would you make similar choices like Hessler?

K同学：No, I probably wouldn’t do this. If I am a successful person and have a lot of money, I may choose to teach in rural China to help children, but now I don’t have that much money. Also, I think the environment there is challenging, and I don’t think I could adapt to the changes.

下周将会由来自西北大学的电影电视广播系的博士候选人Rita老师指导阅读《Minor Feelings》，非常高兴大家能抽出时间来和我们一起阅读，也希望大家都有所收获，期待下周继续见到大家！

-阅读内容-

书籍：《Minor Feelings》

作者：Cathy Park Hong

简介：

诗人兼散文家Cathy Park Hong大胆地将回忆录、文化批评和历史背景糅合在一起，揭示了美国种族主义意识的全新真相。这本文集部分是回忆录，部分是文化批评，它对亲情和友情、艺术和政治、身份和个性等重要问题的不懈探索，将改变你对这个世界的看法。

把这些文章结合在一起的就形成了Cathy Park Hong的“次要情感”理论。Cathy Park Hong用自己的故事作为切入口，深入审视当今美国的种族意识。作为韩裔移民，Cathy Park Hong在羞耻、猜疑和忧郁中长大。她后来明白，当美国人的乐观主义与自我现实相矛盾时——当你相信关于你自己的种族身份的谣言时，这些“次要情感”就会出现。次要情感并不是微不足道的，它们是不和谐的——在紧张的情绪中，Cathy Park Hong找到了困扰她的问题的关键。Minor Feelings是一部极其诚实的艺术作品，它描绘了一位亚裔美国人的心里，以及一位作家对揭露事实和说出真相的探索。