Postcolonial Characteristics in Stevens in the Remains of the Day

摘 要：《長日留痕》主要描述了英格蘭一位典型的男管家史蒂文斯的內心活動. 本文將史蒂文斯置于后殖民主義的語境中進行分析，認為他具有殖民者的特征．

關鍵詞：后殖民主義；殖民者；英國男管家

[中圖分類號]：I106 [文獻標識碼]：A [文章編號]：1002-2139(2011)-15-0009-01

1. The Theory of Postcolonialism

Postcolonialism is an important literary critical theory. Generally speaking， postcolonial studies cover at least four major distinct parts， that is， imperial culture， cultures of the colonizes， cultures of resistance that opposed imperialism and relationship between the First world metropolitan and the Third world peripheral cultures.

2. Views

The publication of The Remains of the Day was followed by considerable discussions among literary critics and readers. In the “New York Times Book Review”， it puts that “The Remains of the Day is a dream of a book: a beguiling comedy of manners that evolves almost magically into a profound and heart-rending study of personality， class and culture.” (Graver， 1989)

In “Publishers Weekly” as well as many other magazines， it is highly praised as “a tour de force – both a compelling psychology study and a portrait of a vanished social order”.

Some people analyze Stevens’ characteristics in a manner of postcolonialism， which Stevens is given the features of the colonized.

3. Postcolonial Analysis

The opinion that Stevens’ behaviors reflect the features of the colonized is not convincing. Actually， he can be regarded as the colonizer.

First of all， Stevens does not accept Miss Kenton’s love. Actually， he has feelings for her. But he has other concern that having a love affair or marriage may bring negative effects on his work. Indeed， this kind of concern is reasonable.

In the novel， there is a maid named Lisa. After working in the Darlington Hall for some eight or nine months， she vanishes from the house together with the second footman. This condition is quite annoying to a butler. The result proves that Stevens’ concern about love affairs is right.

In addition， there is an acceptable explanation about Stevens’ reaction to his father’s death. When he is on his duty downstairs， he can not help shedding tears. The tears reflect his great grief. His own words also well explained why he does not ascend to see his father. “Miss Kenton … I know my father would have wished me to carry on just now.” … “To do otherwise， I feel， would be to let him down.”(Ishiguro， 1989)They are father and son. So they must know each other quite well. Stevens is definitely sure that how to do is better at that time. He is willing to do what his father expects him do. Thus there is no reason to blame him for not accompanying his father when his father dies.

What’s more， Stevens’ effort of trying to respond to Mr. Farraday’s bantering is also understandable. For a butler， satisfying the employer’s needs is part of his duty. Stevens’ behaviors are to fulfill his own responsibilities and try to achieve the goal as a great butler. This cannot be seen as a reflection that he is eroded by the colonized consciousness.

As Said mentions in Orientalism， the colonizers regard them at the center of the world. They feel superior to others. In the novel， Stevens has the same sense of superiority as a British citizen. This sense of superiority can be seen in his statement of the English landscape when he leaves on the six-day trip. “The English landscape at its finest … possesses a quality that the landscapes of other nations inevitably fail to possess.”(Ishiguro， 1989)He regards the English landscape as the greatest one all over the world. There is no other landscape comparable to that of Britain. The highly praise of the English landscape shows Stevens’ own pride of his British identity.

This superiority is also embodied in Stevens’ opinions about the real butler. “It is sometimes said that butlers only truly exist in England. Other countries， whatever title is actually used， have only manservants.”(Ishiguro， 1989)Stevens highlights the professional English butlers by lowering the male servants in European countries. He sides with the view that a great butler is bound to be an Englishman， because Englishmen are good at controlling their emotions. And there is only manservant at most in other countries for their incompetence in restraining strong emotion. This gives people an immodest and arrogant expression. And the tone of his discourse is extremely absolute. Stevens’ sense of superiority is completely indicated in this excerpt.

Reference：

1、Graver， Lawrence. “What the Butler Saw”， October 8， 1989.

2、Ishiguro， Kazuo. 《長日留痕》. 冒國安， 譯. 北京:譯林出版社， 2003.

3、Liu， Xiangdong. [劉向東]， 敬業的男管家—評日裔英國作家石黑一雄的小說《黃昏時分》. 四川外語學院學報， 2004年20卷2期:44-47.

4、Zhao， Xifang. [趙稀方]. 后殖民理論. 北京大學出版社， 2009.