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  3. Roger Rosenblatt’s book Black Fiction, in attempting to apply literary rathe

Roger Rosenblatt’s book Black Fiction, in attempting to apply literary rathe

游客2023-12-12  33
问题     Roger Rosenblatt’s book Black Fiction, in attempting to apply literary rather than sociopolitical criteria to its subject, successfully alters the approach taken by most previous studies. As Rosenblatt notes, criticism of Black writing has often served as a pretext for expounding on Black history. Addison Gayle’s recent work, for example, judges the value of Black Fiction by overtly political standards, rating each work according to the notions of Black identity which it introduces.
    Although fiction assuredly springs from political circumstances, its authors react to those circumstances in ways other than ideological, and talking about novels and stories primarily as instruments of ideology outwits much of the fictional enterprise. Rosenblatt’s literary analysis discloses affinities and connections among works of Black fiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored.
    Writing acceptable criticism of Black fiction, however, presupposes giving satisfactory answers to a number of questions. First of all, is there a sufficient reason, other than the racial identity to the authors, to group together works by Black authors? Second, how does Black fiction make itself distinct from other modern fiction with which it is largely contemporaneous? Rosenblatt shows that Black fiction constitutes a distinct body of writing that has an identifiable, coherent literary tradition. Looking at novels written by Blacks over the last eighty years, he discovers recurring concerns and designs independent of chronology. These structures are related to the themes, and they spring, not surprisingly, from the central fact that the Black characters in these novels exist in a predominantly White culture, whether they try to conform to that culture or rebel against it.
    Black Fiction does leave some aesthetic questions open. Rosenblatt’s theme-based analysis permits considerable objectivity, he even explicitly states that it is not his intention to judge the merit of the various works, yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results. For instance, some of the novels appear to be structurally diffuse. Is this a defect, or are the authors working out of, or trying to forge, a different kind of aesthetic? In addition, the style of some Black novels, like Jean Tommer’s Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does this technique provide a counterpoint to the prevalent theme that portrays the fate against which Black heroes are pitted, a theme usually conveyed by more naturalistic modes of expression?
    In spite of such omissions, what Rosenblatt does include in his discussion makes for an astute and worthwhile study. Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringing to our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-colored Man. Its argument is tightly constructed, and its forthright, lucid style exemplifies levelheaded and penetrating criticism. [br] The author of the passage is primarily concerned with _____.
选项 A、evaluating the soundness of a work of criticism
B、comparing various critical approaches to a subject
C、discussing the limitations of a particular kind of criticism
D、summarizing the major points made in a work of criticism
答案 A
解析 主旨题。因为原文第～句，开门见山地说出作者的观点，认为罗森布拉特的《黑人小说》运用文学的标准而不是社会政治的标准研究这个课题，成功地改变了以前大多数研究所采取的方法(Successfully alters the approach)。选择项A说作者主要关心的是评论作品的正确性(the soundness of a work)，与原文完全一致，这正是文章的主题。选择项D说总结一部文学评论作品的要点(summarizing the major points)。原文第二段、第三段的确综述了《黑人小说》的主要论点：揭示各种黑人小说中的共鸣和联系(discloses affinities and connections)，并且发现黑人作家独特的关怀和构思(concerns and designs)，其主题结构是黑人人物生存在自人占优势的文化环境(exist in a predominantly White culture)中，不论他们企图适应那种文化，还是企图与之对抗。但综述主要论点是为了证明该书的成就，这才是文章的主题。这就要求分清主次。
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