读书的英文演讲稿

读书的英文演讲稿（共10篇）

1.读书的英文演讲稿 篇一

It seems to me that many readers’ English reading experience starts with Jane Eyer. I am of no exception. As we refer to the movie Jane Eyer， it is not surprising to find some differences because of its being filmized and retold in a new way, but the spirit of the novel remains----to be an independent person, both physically and mentally.

Jane Eyer was a born resister, whose parents went off when she was very young, and her aunt，the only relative she had，treated her as badly as a ragtag. Since Jane’s education in Lowwood Orphanage began, she didn’t get what she had been expectingsimply being regarded as a common person, just the same as any other girl around. The suffers from being humiliated and devastated teach Jane to be persevering and prize dignity over anything else.As a reward of revolting the ruthless oppression, Jane got a chance to be a tutor in Thornfield Garden. There she made the acquaintance of lovely Adele and that garden’s owner, Rochester, a man with warm heart despite a cold face outside. Jane expected to change the life from then on, but fate had decided otherwise: After Jane and Rochester fell in love with each other and got down to get marry, she unfortunately came to know in fact Rochester had got a legal wife, who seemed to be the shadow following Rochester and led to his moodiness all the time ----Rochester was also a despairing person in need of salvation. Jane did want to give him a hand, however, she made up her mind to leave, because she didn’t want to betray her own principles, because she was Jane Eyer. The film has finally got a symbolist end: Jane inherited a large number of legacies and finally returned. After finding Rochester’s misfortune brought by his original mad wife, Jane chose to stay with him forever.

I don’t know what others feel, but frankly speaking, I would rather regard the section that Jane began her teaching job in Thornfield as the film’s end----especially when I heard Jane’s words Never in my life have I been awaken so happily. For one thing, this ideal and brand-new beginning of life was what Jane had been imagining for long as a suffering person; for another, this should be what the audiences with my views hoped her to get. But the professional judgment of producing films reminded me to wait for a totally different result: There must be something wrong coming with the excellence----perhaps not only should another section be added to enrich the story, but also we may see from the next transition of Jane’s life that Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you would get. (By Forrest Gump’s mother, in the film Forrest Gump)

What’s more,this film didn’t end when Jane left Thornfield. For Jane Eyer herself, there should always be somewhere to realize her great ideal of being independent considering her fortitude, but for Rochester, how he can get salvation? The film gives the answer tentatively: Jane eventually got back to Rochester. In fact, when Jane met Rochester for the first time, she scared his horse and made his heel strained, to a certain extent, which meant Rochester would get retrieval because of Jane. We can consider Rochester’s experiences as that of religion meaning.The fire by his frantic wife was the punishment for the cynicism early in his life. After it, Rochester got the mercy of the God and the love of the woman whom he loved. Here we can say: human nature and divinity get united perfectly in order to let such a story accord with the requirements of both two sides. The value of this film may be due to its efforts to explore a new way for the development of humanism under the faith of religion.

Life is ceaselessly changing, but our living principles remain. Firmly persisting for the rights of being independent gives us enough confidence and courage, which is like the beacon over the capriccioso sea of life. In the world of the film, we have found the stories of ourselves, which makes us so concerned about the fate of the dramatis personae.

In this era of rapid social and technological change leading to increasing life complexity and psychological displacement, both physical and mental effects on us call for a balance. We are likely to find ourselves bogged down in the Sargasso Sea of information overload and living unconsciousness. It’s our spirit that makes the life meaningful.

Heart is the engine of body, brain is the resource of thought, and great films are the mirrors of life. Indubitably, Jane Eyer is one of them.

2.读书的英文演讲稿 篇二

So, you have to give a speech—and you’re terrified. You get nervous, you forget what you want to say, you stumble(结巴)over words, you talk too long, and you bore your audience. Later you think, “Thank goodness, it’s over.I’m just no good at public speaking. I hope I never have to do that again.”

Cheer up! It doesn’t have to be that bad. Here are some simple steps to take the pain out of speech making. Ask yourself the purpose of your speech. What is the occasion? Why are you speaking? Then, gather as many facts as you can on your subject. Spend plenty of time doing your research. Then spend plenty of time organizing your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow. Use as many examples as possible, and use pictures, charts, and graphs if they will help you make your points more clearly. Never forget your audience. Don’tand don’t talk down to them. Treat your audience with respect. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Just remember: be prepared. Know your subject, your audience, and the occasion. Be brief. Say what you have to say and then stop. And be yourself. Let your personality come through so that you make person-to-person contact with your audience.

If you follow these simple steps, you’ll see that you don’t have to be afraid of public speaking. In fact,you may find the experience so enjoyable that you volunteer to make more speeches! You’re not convinced yet?Give it a try and see what happens.

阅读短文后,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中,选出最佳选项。

1. The main idea of this article is that ________ .

A. you can improve your speaking ability B. a poor speaker can never change

C. one should make a short speech D. it is hard to make a speech

2. Paragraph 2 implies that ________ .

A. many people talk too long

B. many people are happy to give a speech

C. many people do not prepare for a speech

D. many people are afraid of giving a speech

3. The phrase“talk over their heads”means ________ .

A. speak too loudly B. look at the ceiling

C. use difficult words D. look down upon them

参考答案与解析:

1. 选A。全文提供了如何做好演讲的技巧,帮助读者提升演讲能力。

2. 选D。第二段描述了很多人对演讲产生的恐惧心理和表现。

3.读书的英文演讲稿 篇三

关键词：校办读书节 东厦中学读书节 演讲比赛 自主学习能力

《语文课程标准》明确指出要积极倡导自主、合作、探究的学习方式。语文综合性学习有利于学生在感兴趣的自主活动中全面提高语文素养，是培养学生主动探究、团结合作、勇于创新精神的重要途径。

读书节作为东厦中学的特色活动，已成功地举办六届。其中，演讲比赛已成为重要的组成部分。东厦中学读书节演讲比赛不仅仅是一种比赛，更是给学生提供了自主阅读、自主思考、自主表达、自主展示的平台，让学生从中提高自主学习能力的一种语文综合性实践活动。这里，打算对其进行讨论。

一.自主阅读

古人云：“最是书香能致远，腹有诗书气自华”。我们经常提倡读书，但是有一个普遍现象，中小学生读了很多教辅书而不太喜欢读课外书尤其是经典名著[1]，想读课外书的也不知道是哪方面的书更好。然而，东厦中学每一次举办读书节演讲比赛都定了一个与经典名著有关的主题，这就促使学生有针对性地去查找资料、阅读资料。而查找资料、阅读资料的过程，其实也就是学生自主阅读的过程。

第二届和第六届读书节演讲比赛的主题都是“经典伴我行”，学生在这一主题的驱使下，自主地选择一本经典名著或多本经典名著去阅读，围绕经典名著来阐发自己的阅读感想。学生自主地选择经典名著、自由地阅读的过程，也就是重新考量经典名著、重新审视自己的过程。在2015年第六届读书节演讲比赛中，高一（15）班的林玉珊同学就这样讲道：“《普希金诗选》，一开始我对它完全不感兴趣，那是一本三四厘米厚的书，足足有八百多页。但在后来的阅读中，我知道了普希金是俄羅斯伟大的民族诗人，被誉为俄国诗歌的太阳，普希金在中国所被人熟悉是从鲁迅等著名作家翻译和介绍普希金的诗开始的。”“在阅读过这本书后，我对普希金的认识不再只停留在教科书中那首短短的诗篇，反而有种相见恨晚的感觉。”

经典的经典之处正在于它历久弥新的艺术魅力，学生即使认识尚浅，也会在自由的阅读中有自己一番感悟。在2011年第二届读书节演讲比赛中，高一（5）班的蔡雅涵同学深情地表达《老人与海》中圣地亚哥的毅力带给自己的震撼;高一（12）班的徐旭东同学激情澎湃地对《三国演义》中关羽的传奇一生嗟嗟称奇;高一（8）班的陈宁馨同学理性地对《项链》中女主人公的一生进行了评价。

“一千个读者有一千个哈姆雷特”，演讲以比赛的形式进行，让学生选择感兴趣的阅读资料，在比赛前给学生预留了充足的阅读空间，允许学生大胆地对文本进行富有个性的自主的阅读，阐发自己独特的体会，在阅读中享受搜索的乐趣和找到素材的成就感，并在潜移默化中充实了自己的知识体系。

二.自主思考

每个学生都有潜在的独立学习的能力。每一场演讲比赛都有一个主题，面对一个演讲主题，学生在进行演讲之前，必须搜集整合资料和准备演讲稿，这个过程也就是学生自主思考、独立探究的过程。演讲稿的准备是最为重要的，学生在完成文稿的过程中会把自己的想法、自己的意见无一遗漏地写出来，以此来体现自己的独特性。即使自己的观点与别人一致，学生也会尝试从不同的角度、不同的侧面来谈起自己的观点。如果对所要论述的内容知之甚少、缺乏独立思考，也就无法写出精彩流畅的演讲稿;如果只是机械地摘抄前人或者网络上的演讲稿，那就很难在比赛中脱颖而出。

2014年第五届读书节演讲比赛的主题是“科学、理想和人生”，想要把这三者自然地结合起来并不是一件易事，学生一不小心就会只选取其中一者来阐发自己的观点。在这个过程中，考验着学生思维能力，促使他们开动脑筋自主思考，只有这样，才能形成独具特色的演讲稿。在比赛过程中，我们发现，选手们的演讲稿紧扣主题，内容丰富，彰显了自己的文学素养和知识积累。从凡尔纳的科幻小说到居里夫人发现镭，从袁隆平发明杂交水稻到“玉兔”登月，古今中外伟人的事例，都被运用到演讲稿中，并将科学与伟人的理想和自己的理想、人生紧密地联系起来，有针对性地发表自己的看法和见解。经过初赛的筛选，晋级的选手更是充分发挥了自主思考的能力，不断丰富和充实演讲稿，丰富自己看问题的角度，在竞争的氛围中进一步拓展了自己的思考范围。思考无止境，也将思考内化为他们的积淀，并外化为他们的语文素养。

三.自主表达

在第五届读书节演讲比赛中，有一位选手在初赛和决赛中都表现得很突出，但是他的老师却说他上课的表现并不积极。正所谓“兴趣是最好的老师”，是校办读书节的演讲比赛激发了这位选手的表达欲望和阅读热情。选手不仅仅要表达自己的观点，更要打动评委。唯有独具风格、感情丰富，选手才能打动评委和听众，就像演员在舞台上表演一样，演讲者充分利用了演讲台上的短短几分钟，或热情洋溢，或义正辞严，我口说我心，自主地表达观点，进而碰撞出思想的火花。

在第二届读书节“经典伴我行”主题演讲比赛中，高一（13）班的蔡洵轻吟一首诗“桃之夭夭，灼灼其华”，柔情似水地将书籍比作桃树的枝干，将经典比作桃树上的蓓蕾，把评委和观众带到了经典的世界里;高一（10）班的徐旭东同学则通过一组疑问“你和老渔夫共同抗拒过鲨鱼的肆虐吗？你和徐志摩一起在康桥上漫步徜徉过？”吸引了评委和观众的兴趣，顺利地将受众带进经典名著的世界里。对于一个既定的主题，我们的学生通过自主表达，充分发挥了自己的主观能动性和创造性，不断地提升自己的自主学习能力。

四.自主展示

多元智力理论告诉我们，必须发现每一个学生的智力特点，充分发挥每个人的个性，尊重学生的个性发展，而不应该用一把尺子衡量一切学生[2]。校办读书节演讲比赛恰好为学生创设良好的自主展示情境，帮助他们树立主体意识。平时的课堂中，教师是讲者，学生是听者，教师起主导作用。而在演讲比赛时，学生是主角，教师是配角。角色的转变让学生更乐于去表现自己，也让自主展示成为可能。演讲比赛给学生提供了展示自己的机会，提供了展现自我的舞台。在演讲比赛中，作为主角的学生更容易去发现并纠正自己的不足之处，如仪态不大方，发音不准确，用词不恰当等，这些有意和无意的发现，都会促使学生去关注自身的方方面面，在不断的实践中提高自我展示的能力。

在第五届读书节演讲比赛中，高一（1）班的杨卡彤同学的表现给评委老师留下深刻的印象。围绕“科学、理想和人生”这一演讲主题，杨卡彤同学一上台就面对微笑地问在场的同学：“同学们，你们有理想吗？你们的理想是什么？”并走到第一排观众面前，将手中的话筒朝向观众，台下有不少同学与她进行了互动，一下子拉近了选手与观众的距离，吸引了观众去聆听选手的演讲，去关注选手的演讲内容。显然，杨卡彤同学能获得比赛一等奖，是与其成功的自主展示分不开的。

五.结语

自主学习是一种能力，更是一种态度。如果能让学生们参与演讲、爱上演讲、懂得演讲甚至让演讲走进课堂，那么学生自主阅读、自主思考、自主表达、自主展示的能力将会得到进一步的提升。

“寻常一样窗前月，才有梅花便不同”，“月”由一样到“不同”是借助“梅花”这个媒介，校办读书节开启了学生的演讲之旅，也成为提升学生自主学习能力的一个媒介。每一次成功的校办读书节演讲比赛，所收获的不仅仅是表面上看到的轰轰烈烈的热闹气氛，更多的是我们从这场活动中提升了学生。

自主学习能力的提高是一个漫长的过程，希望我们教师能在不断的实践中为学生找到更多提升自主学习能力的方式和途径，让自主学习成为学生的一种自觉。笔者认为，只要东厦中学能一如既往地举办读书节活动，学生的自主学习能力定会不断地提高。

参考文献

[1]郑惠生.“新媒体时代”小学生最喜欢阅读哪类课外书——小学生课外阅读调查研究之六[J].湖南师范大学教育科学学报，2007（2）：54.

[2]（美）戴维·拉齐尔.学习之路：教给学生和家长多元智能[M].张晓峰译.北京：教育科学出版社，2004：294-297.

本文为广东省教育科学规划课题《校办“读书节”综合实践活动研究——以汕头市东厦中学为个案》（2012YQJK271）研究成果。

4.读书的好处英文作文 篇四

The Benefits of ReadingIn this modern materialistic world, the majority of people are in hot pursuit of material gains, and money is considered the most valuable thing of all, which, personally speaking, is quite superficial. As far as I am concerned, reading is much more valuable than anything else, for it can benefit us in many ways. The old saying, “to open a book is always beneficial” vividly shows how valuable reading is.

Firstly, it goes beyond doubt that reading is a very important way to gain knowledge. Reading is like travelling, the process of which enables you to experience the colorful world and enlarge your eyes scope. By reading history books, you can understand how a regime prospers or collapses, helping you draw useful lessons and develop more wisdom. By reading books of science, you can keep yourself informed in the field of scientific endeavors, thus appreciating how science creates wonders. In a word, reading can enrich your knowledge and get whatever information you need. In addition, you can get mental encouragement from reading and improve yourself in all aspects. For instance, the stories of well-known people in books help turn an aimless person into an ambitious one, setting up a short or long-term goal for himself. If the daily troubles make you feel desperate, then you will be mentally stroked and encouraged by reading how famous people such as Beethoven made miracles in the face of insurmountable difficulties. Books are a great source of mental encouragement, giving you motives to move forward.Finally, reading good books is one of the greatest pleasures in life. It increases our joy when we are in high spirits, and lessens our sorrow when we are discouraged. Reading will always bring us enjoyment and satisfaction. Good books also serve as gentle companions or faithful friends that will never betray uss. While reading, we don’t feel lonely. Books are ready to give us whatever we need such as knowledge, friendship and encouragement.To sum up, reading is undoubtedly beneficial to you. To open a book is like opening a door, through which you will enter a museum, where all man-made wonders and unique wisdoms are available for you to appreciate; to open a book is like opening a window, through which you can enjoy fresh air、blue sky and wonderful natural landscapes , making you feel refreshed.

读书的好处在现代这个物欲横流的世界，大多数人都在狂热地追求物质享受，金钱是一切，最有价值的东西，就我个人而言，是很肤浅的。就我而言，阅读比其他更为宝贵的，因为它可以使我们在多方面收益。俗话说，“开卷有益”生动地说明阅读是有价值的。首先，这是毋庸置疑的，阅读是获取知识的重要途径。阅读就像旅行，这一过程使你体验到多姿多彩的世界，你的眼睛范围扩大。通过阅读历史书籍，你可以了解一个政权的繁荣和崩溃，帮助你吸取教训和发展更多的智慧。通过阅读科技图书，你可以保持你自己的科学工作领域知情，因此如何认识科学创造奇迹。总之，读书可以丰富你的知识和得到的任何你需要的信息。此外，你可以从阅读中得到精神的鼓励和提高自己各方面的。例如，在书中著名的人的故事帮助把一个漫无目的的人进入一个雄心勃勃的人，建立自己的短期或长期的目标。如果每天的烦恼让你感到绝望，那么你会精神抚摸和阅读如何名人如贝多芬在面对不可克服的困难鼓励了奇迹。本书是一个伟大的精神鼓励的源泉，给你前进的动机。最后，读好书是生活中最大的乐趣之一。它增加了我们的快乐的时候，我们都兴高采烈，减轻我们的悲伤当我们气馁。阅读总是会给我们带来快乐和满意。好的书籍，也可作为温和的同伴或忠实的朋友，永远不会背叛我们。阅读时，我们并不感到孤独。本书提供给我们所需要的一切如知识，友谊和鼓励。总之，阅读是你无疑是有益的。打开一本书就像打开一扇门，通过它你将进入一个博物馆，在那里所有的人造奇迹和独特的智慧，供您欣赏；打开一本书，就像打开了一扇窗户，通过它你可以享受新鲜的空气、蓝天和优美的自然风光，让你感到神清气爽。

5.读书的好处英文五十字 篇五

In fact, I like reading, not born.

A talk with a university professor once laid a deep imprint on my heart.

He said, “how many books a man reads on his face?”“.

At that time, I was checked and feel my face must be written without much ink, superficial appearance.

How I wish I had made myself look elegant and bookish.

We know: first impressions are very important.

Read more books can make people feel that the book lined up, quite demeanor.

Sometimes, we find that people of the same age, college professors and regular workers are always able to tell at a glance.

The main difference is temperament.

This is what we say ”abdominal poetry and gas from china“.

Four is more reading, can literary talent flying, full of inspiration.

We are all government workers.

Able to speak and write is our basic requirement.

This requires us to read more books.

Without reading, writing may be unable to write or say language boring, no charm.

”Having read more than ten thousand books, writing if there is god." Read more books, the ability to control the text, and want to express ideas can be expressed fluently.

I have a deep understanding: when I write an article if you are feeling very smooth words, others read very fluently.

If there is no feeling squeezed out of the text put all sorts of things together, read others will feel jerky is not smooth.

So, I can judge whether an article is good or bad, whether I can read it or not.

Read more books, but also make people at the time of writing, and more use of some good words in the book, good sentences and life philosophy, people feel rich literary grace, aesthetic, increase the readability of the article.

★ 献血表扬信

★ 献血标语

★ 献血讲座心得体会范文

★ 冬季献血倡议书

★ 献血策划书案例

★ 大学生献血感谢信

★ 大学献血倡议书

★ 红十字会献血活动策划书

★ “七夕”献血活动启事

6.读书的价值英文作文以及翻译 篇六

The Value of Reading Books

People often say that gold and silver are the most valuable things in the world.ButI don‘t think so. In my opinion, to read books is more valuable than anything else.

The old saying “To open a book is always helpful” clearly tells us how good it is to read a book.

Books are our friends. They introduce us different kinds of knowledge. They lead us down the road to success.

Books are our teachers. They teach us troth, science, literature, and philosophy of life. Besides, they increase our knowledge, enlarge our experience,strengthen our character and do many other things which we can not do without them.

Books tell us what is good and what is evil. And only books can tell the good from the bad.

Therefore to read more books is the best policy for our young students.

读书的价值

人们常说金子和银子是世界上最有价值的东西，但我不这样认为。在我看来，读书比任何其他事情更有价值。

“开卷有益”清楚地告诉了我们读书有多好。

书是我们的朋友。它们向我们介绍不同种类的知识，它指导我们沿着成功之路前行。

书是我们的老师。它们教我们真理、科学、文学和生活的哲理，同时它们增加了我们的知识，扩大了我们的`视野，增强了我们的个性，使我们还做了在没有书的情况下绝不可能完成的其他事情。

书能让我们明辨是非，并且只有书才能让我们吸取反面教训。

7.读书的英文演讲稿 篇七

对《包法利夫人》的评论, 纳博科夫开门见山地点明:“我们对《包法利夫人 》的分析应当与福楼拜本人的创作意图相符———从下面几个方面进行讨论:小说的结构 (他本人称作“动作”) 、主题线索、风格、意境、人物。 ”[1]186

一、结构 (动作)

纳博科夫盛赞福楼拜的这部小说有着一种高度精巧的艺术结构。 他所谓的“结构/动作”是和鉴赏福楼拜的特殊手法的运用相结合的。

其一是纳博科夫命名为“结构式转换”的技法。 他认为“与《荒凉山庄》中以小说的章节为分解进行主题的转换不同, 《包法利夫人》中, 转换是在章节内连续进行的……如果把《荒凉山庄》中的叙述主题转换比作阶梯式运动, 《包法利夫人》中的转换则是柔和的波浪式”[1]216。他举了四个例子。其中, 爱玛与罗道尔夫的会面是结构式转换的绝好例子。 转换是这样进行的: 查理请母亲到永镇来商议对爱玛该怎么办———她的身体要垮了。 母亲来了, 认为爱玛尽读坏小说。周三离去时, 永镇上有市集。 在这里, 艾玛在痛失上一段与赖昂的恋情后, 通过一场市集急救, 自然过渡到了她与罗道尔夫的相遇。 在文中多处, 福楼拜设计的这些“偶然因素”恰好就在无形中推动着情节的转换。 再比如艾玛遇见勒乐的这一段, “从艺术结构上讲, 这些描写都带有预示性。 福楼拜将这样处理故事的结构:勒乐借钱给艾玛, 就像借钱给泰里耶一样;勒乐将使艾玛破产, 就像他使老泰里耶在死前破产一样;另外, 他将把自己精神上的不安转嫁给那位著名的医学博士———艾玛服毒后人们束手无策, 便请来了博士。 这就是艺术构思”[1]。

其二便是“多声部配合法”在小说的结构搭建上起到了无与伦比的作用。 纳博科夫详细分析了五个例子:

1.艾玛和查理第一次来到永镇客店, 在大厅里四个人展开的一场平行交叉式的谈话。 艾玛在和初次见面的赖昂在大谈音乐艺术的同时, 他们的谈话常被郝麦的独白和他与包法利的谈话所打断。

2.被对赖昂的爱折磨着的艾玛突然动了信教的念头, 她来到教堂向堂长倾诉自己的苦闷时的谈话一直与教士与吵闹的孩子们的对话交叉。

3.农业展览会上艾玛和罗道尔夫的情意绵绵的对话与州行政委员绵长无聊的讲话交织在了一起。

4.在和丈夫观赏歌剧的夜晚, 艾玛遇到了久别重逢的赖昂。 两人的谈话中夹杂着查理乏味的问话。

5. 相约在礼拜堂见面的艾玛和赖昂的别扭谈话与教堂守卫滔滔不绝的介绍交织在一起。

纳博科夫大量援引了书中的文段, 并对这几个例子中前后每个动作的设计进行了细致剖析, 使得 “多声部配合法”这个文学术语的含义及其作用更明白晓畅。

同时, 纳博科夫还注重引用福楼拜在创作 《包法利夫人》 期间写给其他人的信件中的相关内容来佐证自己的观点。 比如, 第一个例子中, 纳博科夫评论到“正像郝麦的谈话时伪科学的胡诌和报章杂志上的滥调杂烩一样, 第三个动作中艾玛和赖昂的对话不过是故作风雅的无病呻吟……必须指出, 赖昂和艾玛故作风雅, 与自高自大又不学无术的郝麦侈谈科学, 两者同样浅薄、平庸、陈腐。 假艺术与伪科学在这里汇合了”[1], 纳博科夫认为两种被世人公认的真其实都是假的。 一个是科学主义堆砌出来的所谓“常识”。 另一类就是“庸俗的潮流”。 纳博科夫给过这种假一种称呼叫做“高雅迷”。 这里便指赖昂和艾玛的这一段看似高雅投缘的谈话。

同样, 作者结构的安排思路以及“多声部配合法”的实际功效, 纳博科夫也引用了福楼拜在一封信里中的亲述:“真难呐……相当棘手的一章。 我把所有人物都摆进了这一章, 他们在行动和对话中相互交往, 发生各种联系……我还要写出这些人物活动于其中的大环境。 如果我预期的目的达到了, 这一章将产生交响乐般的效果。 ”[1]219

这种大篇幅的引用极大地拉近了文学文本与读者之间的距离, 同时也降低了理解的难度。

二、主题线索

这一部分, 纳博科夫梳理了《包法利夫人》的小说脉络, 并整理出了小说的大事年表。 在此基础上, 他提出, 整部小说有四个主题。 查理的混合式帽子、 艾玛婚礼上的多层蛋糕、查理在道特的家、艾玛死后用于安葬的一棺两椁都不谋而合地突出了千层饼的主题。 其次是贯穿作品, 可以以此抽出故事梗概的马的主题。 再有艾玛对爱情、巴黎、孩子以及包法利的幻想的梦幻的主题, 以及由此自然牵引出欺骗的主题。 多重主题的提出展现了纳博科夫深厚的文学功底和非凡的感受力。 但我认为, 千层饼主题似乎并没有另三个主题更具有说服力。 与其说纳博科夫提出的这几个零散的事例可以算做一个主题, 还不如说, 这是作者有意设置的象征性意象。 因为毕竟它们不像马、梦幻、欺骗主题一样, 是自然得贯穿全文, 可以连成一个有机整体的。

比如, 就马的主题而言, 从人物同马的结构关系看, 小说中人物与马的对置出现构成了多种巧妙的对称结构。 这些对应结构既形成了小说多个短小的回环结构, 又紧扣主题, 耐人寻味。 “小说以包法利骑马为鲁奥看病开始, 最后又以包法利卖马结束。 当鲁奥老爹看见包法利用马车将爱玛娶走时, 想起了当年自己骑马将妻子从岳父家接走的情景;当鲁奥接到爱玛噩耗时, 他又马不停蹄地赶往永镇, 此时已物是人非。 燕子号马车不仅载着包法利迁居永镇, 还是爱玛前往卢昂同莱昂约会的必备交通工具。 农业展览会上, 爱玛看到远处山坡上缓缓行驶的燕子号, 想起了自己同莱昂的感情, 在这似真似幻的幻想中, 她终于被罗道尔弗迷惑。 爱玛去世后, 包法利又在雨中望见燕子号, 感慨万千”[2]。 “马”隐蔽地串联了小说各部分的关系及内在联系, 使我们不仅凭此追踪小说的故事发展脉络, 更能在马的主题的各层结构中, 领略到它的多重魅力。

三、风格

纳博科夫认为, 就主题而言, 《包法利夫人》显得有点平淡无奇, 而“福楼拜将一个充斥着骗子、市侩、庸人、恶棍和喜怒无常的太太们的世界写成一部富有诗意的小说, 一部最完美的作品, 靠的是艺术风格的内在力量, 各种艺术形式和手法, 包括从一个主题过渡到另一主题的‘多声部配合法’, 预示法和呼应法”[1]230。 在这里, 纳博科夫将福楼拜抬到了一个如此显赫的位置, 根据的是他的精致、细腻、风格化的形式, 而完全排除了思想内容方面的因素, 不得不说, 这是纳博科夫的一个不足。 他过于片面化和绝对化地强调了艺术风格的作用而忽略了小说在思想内容上的价值。 这和他的创作观是一致的:纳博科夫崇尚艺术, 他称文学作品为神话故事, 没有任何实用价值。 “他的艺术观可以概括为:在文学创作中, 艺术高于一切, 语言、结构、文体等创作手段和表现方式, 要比作品的思想性和故事性更重要”[1,2]。 他坚决反对文学真实反映现实这一观念, 因为“所有的现实都只是相对的现实, 因为某一特定的现实, 不仅仅取决于感官接受到的原始讯号, 还要取决于不同层次的信息”[1]208。

评论界多认为, 福楼拜以外科医生般的客观、冷静的叙述风格去描绘和剖析社会现实, 开创了以细节准确、语言优美和结构缜密为风格特征的文体小说的传统。 但纳博科夫举出多处细节和事例的非真实性来反驳其他人把 《包法利夫人》纳入现实主义之列。 他认为带着批判资产阶级的有色眼镜去读文本是有失公允的。 但他在否定先入为主式的阅读观念的同时, 也完全否定了文学作品中可能承载的现实因素和社会信息。 我们可以看到, 艾玛几次在出轨的边缘徘徊时都经历过痛苦的挣扎, 在沉迷的过程里, 她也有少许清醒的时刻, 但现实一次又一次地扑灭了她的希望之火, 在对包法利能创造奇迹和日常生活能摆脱庸俗、 无聊的期盼彻底破灭之后, 她义无反顾地选择投入情人的怀抱。 “忠实的写实就是这样不留后路, 它消灭了温情的感伤主义挽回局势的些许机会……分析如此写实的小说, 就好像在分析生活本身。 但由于严格地 ‘选择场景以及某种和谐的展开秩序’, 它比生活本身更为合理, 逻辑严密, 因而更为真实。 于是, 当爱玛踏上了堕落的起点之后, 她的脚步便不由自主地向下滑去, 没有一点偶然的因素可供侥幸之想。 在此做决定的, 是生活本质里的规律”[3]。

换言之, 小说更深层的悲剧性, 是人的激情愿望欲求与现实之间的矛盾冲突, 人置身于现实的种种约束和限制之中, 这种冲突无法调和, 造成了命运的不幸。 这是具有极大的现实性的。

四、意境

对于意境的剖析, 《文学讲稿》中并没有系统的展开。 我认为, 这里所谓的“意境”可能是指书中反复出现的几个重要的具有隐喻性质的“意象”, 或是作者强调多次的“细节”。纳博科夫提及了几个比较重要的意象:

1.蓝色

“在这写的十分优美的一幕中, 我们特别要留意艾玛的蓝面纱———它像蛇一般蜿蜒柔软, 成了故事中一个独立的角色……请不要忘记, 后来那毒药是装在蓝罐里的;出殡的时候田野里也笼罩着蓝色雾霭”[1]226。

2.乞丐

“请注意艾玛从幽会处返回时从静谧的树林另一端传到她耳中的一个遥远的声音———像是远方的音乐。 这富有魅力的音乐只不过是一个丑陋乞丐的沙哑歌声引起的美化了的回声……在这里和卢昂听到的沙哑歌声, 在将近五年之后将与艾玛临死的呓语发生恐怖的共鸣”[1]227。

乞丐的设置有隐喻的意味:“乞丐像一面镜子, 是爱玛灵魂的自我反观。 她像看到乞丐一样看到自己的灵魂, 感到它丑陋孤独而痛苦。 这个乞丐又像一个幽灵般紧紧地在她身后追捕她, 仿佛某种诅咒, 是对她的灵魂的无情的嘲讽, 使她死前的一刻感到极度的恐惧。 ”[4]

3.教堂守卫最后的喊话

教堂守卫滔滔不绝地作介绍, 赖昂烦躁难忍。 离开教堂时, “守卫站在门口, 朝他们喊:‘再怎么也该走北门出去, 看看‘复活’、‘最后审判’、‘天堂’、‘大卫王’和‘火焰地狱的醉人’……教堂守卫最后鹦鹉学舌般喊得一段话预示着地狱的火焰———假若艾玛没有和赖昂一道坐进马车, 她还来得及逃脱下地狱的厄运”[1]。

这种反复出现的意象必须是通过细致的文本阅读得来的, 与纳博科夫强调的细节观一致。 细节除了作为一种对环境或内心准确描写的事实, 或者起着对小说情节的推进与呼应的作用, 往往还作为小说主题的一种载体, 暗示其主题。

五、人物

纳博科夫认为“三种因素造就了一个人:遗传因素、环境因素还有未知因素X。 这三种因素相比, 环境因素的影响力远远弱于另两种因素, 而未知因素X的力量则大大超过其他因素。 谈到小说中的各种因素, 当然是作者在控制、指挥和运用这三种因素。 ———我反对人们在女主角爱玛·包法利受到客观社会环境影响的论题上纠缠不休。 福楼拜的小说表现的是人类命运的精妙的微积分, 不是社会环境影响的加减乘除”[1]。

在这里, 纳博科夫更强调的是人物命运的偶然性因素, 这不免带有较强的宿命论意味。 而且, 他认为这三个因素是任由作者调配的, 也有片面化的嫌疑。

在造成爱玛悲命运的众多因素里, 除了未知因素外, 遗传因素和环境因素其实起到了至关重要的作用。

1.性格因素

李健吾先生评价艾玛时说:“她的悲剧和全书的魅力就在于她的反抗意识和对生命的无休止的追求。 ”[5]

虽然表面上艾玛是对于梦幻、激情有着无限追求的, 但是相比于安娜·卡列尼娜, 我们会发现艾玛的幻想是实际的:“在她奔放的热情中, 却又有讲究实际的精神, 她爱教堂是为了教堂的鲜花, 爱音乐是为了浪漫的词句, 爱文学是为了文学热情的刺激, 这种精神和宗教信仰的神秘性是格格不入的, 正如她的性格对修道院的清规戒律越来越反感一样。 ”[6]37最后, 山穷水尽的爱玛卑屈地走进公证人家中借钱, 竟还能注意到公证人餐厅里的摆设。 她所追求的激情幻想是与她的身份、所处的现实环境不匹配的, 因为长久以来自我身份的错位引发了的自我同一性危机酿成了最后的悲剧。

2.环境因素

《包法利夫人》描述了一个等级观念浓重的社会。 在职业与追求的取向上, 社会资产阶级丑恶嘴脸的代表郝麦和勒乐飞黄腾达, 走的都是社会规范下的“正道”。 用福楼拜的话说, “这就是咱们当今的处境, 也是‘民主’造成的愚蠢后果”[1]217。

同时, 金钱至关重要。 书中充满了买卖与借贷的场景, 婚姻也是一种利益的权衡。 查理的母亲给他选的第一个妻子是一个有钱的寡妇; 查理能娶到艾玛是因为他父亲认为他不会对嫁妆讨价还价等。 因此, 在金钱至上的社会中, 没有财富做后盾的浪漫根本是不存在的。 耽于不切实际的幻想的艾玛最后被巨额的债务逼上了绝路其实是必然。

此外, 社会中存在的男女不平等的因素也是把艾玛推向绝境的手之一。 在爱玛生产的时候, 她强烈希望生一个儿子, 因为“一个男人至少是自由的, 可以尝遍喜怒哀乐, 走遍东南西北, 跨越面前的障碍, 抓住遥远的幸福。 可对一个女人来说却是困难重重。 她既没有活动能力, 又得听人摆布, 她的肉体软弱, 只能依靠法律保护”[6]98。 这直接说明了女性在地位、自由权上与男性的差距, 也说明了艾玛脑中已经萌生了要求男女平等、追求自由的女性主义萌芽。

“我们如果试图总结艾玛身上的性格和品质特征, 可以得出以下的结论:浪漫、虚荣, 自私、叛逆, 不甘平庸, 这一切似乎适用于所有女性, 包括男性, 是人性正常的内容, 不应该那么致命的, 不是那么邪恶的, 可是福楼拜先生描写的是在适当的社会条件下, 所有人性之花都在尽情开放, 包括恶之花, 它也可以尽情开放。 所以说, 包法利夫人这个形象最令人震撼之处在于, 我们看见了一棵寻常的人性之树, 这树上却开出了不寻常的恶之花”[7]。

另外, 作家对人物命运确实有主宰的权利, 但是这种权利的行使也需要符合人物性格、情节发展的内在逻辑, 必须遵循可行性原则。 因此, 纳博科夫认为作者可以肆意地控制、指挥和运用三种因素对人物的命运的影响是欠妥的。

最后, 在评注中, 纳博科夫还就《包法利夫人》散文诗的文体特征进行了归纳, 对福楼拜高超的语言驾驭力充满溢美之词。 另外, 对福楼拜少用但一旦使用便精妙至极的譬喻进行了讲解, 体现出纳博科夫对文学作品的研读一以贯之的对细节的关注以及对艺术风格和形式的关注。

参考文献

[1][美]纳博科夫.申惠辉, 等译.文学讲稿[M].上海:三联书店, 1991.

[2]康建兵.论《包法利夫人》中“马”的叙事艺术[J].齐齐哈尔大学学报 (哲学社会科学版) , 2008 (11) :61.

[3][法]福楼拜.周克希, 译.包法利夫人[J].上海:上海译文出版社, 1999:115.

[4]罗佐欧.论《包法利夫人》中的细节[J].安阳师范学院学报, 2014 (4) :72.

[5]李健吾.福楼拜评传[M].长沙:湖南人民出版社, 1980:82.

[6][法]福楼拜.唐靖, 译.包法利夫人[M].延边:延边人民出版社, 1998.

8.英文读书报告 篇八

Name：李秀清 NO：200841010234 page: 1

Afterthought of “Shuang Leng Chang He”

Friendship

Recently, I read a book named „Shuang Leng Chang He‟which is written by Yu Qiuyu.There are some essays about philosophic theory of human life in this book.However, I was attractive by the essay of friendship for I was told the essence of friendship and learnt how to make friends with others.Friendship is an eternal theme we examine and explore.But what is friendship? What is the real meaning of friendship? As we know, friendship is a life-long treasure.With friends, we share our joys and tears.Friendship is not a commodity with a price, nor should we alienate our friends by questioning or judging their virtues.In traditional culture of China, most of the literary men admire the friendship between Yu Boya and Zhong Ziqi.They hold the point that mountain stream with a knowing ear is the luckiest thing and looking forward to this kind of friendship in their whole life.However, a bosom friend is not easy to find in the real world.It usually comes that the person is your friend today, and tomorrow would be your enemy.Even more, when a person was deceived or betrayed by his friends, he would never trust any friends.Usually, people will try their best to help their friends, even their lives when needed.However they find it hard to forgive the friend who betrayed them.Hence, how to establish friendly relationship is very important and necessary for human beings.There is a Chinese saying goes, you depend on your parents when you stay at home, and you depend on your friends when you go out.This kind of saying indicates that the importance of friends, at the same time it means the value of friends is for dependence.Therefore, will you make friends with a person who has no use for you? Or anyone helped you can become your friends? What do we expect from our friends? From my point of view, a real friend does not care your background, your wealth, your appearance.The truest friend of all is one that reads your very soul, one who is always there when needed.A real friend does not expect something from their friends or depend on his friends.Friendship is an in-depth relationship combining trust, communication, and understanding.Some people hold the idea that finding a friend is like coming home.When you come “home” to a friend, you can relax;unbosoming you pains and sorrows and you needn‟t pretend or act tough.But do not forget one point that is keeping distance between you.Most people of China are likely to ignore this kind of problem, which sometimes causes some unnecessary troubles.From my point of view, we should better keep proper distance with our friends if you want keep a stable relationship.Generally, as a Chinese, people would rather receive excessive kindness than say “NO‟‟ to their friends.In their opinion, a good friend should not turn down their friends, if this happened, their friends would be regarded that they were looked down by their friends and felt loosing face.For example, one of your friends is afraid of exam and he asks for your help during the examination.What would you do? To be or not to be? Even though you are unwilling to cheat in the exam, you still promise to offer help and endure the suffering yourself from treating.Every man alone is sincere.At the entrance of a second person, hypocrisy begins.Emerson said “A friend is a person with whom I may be sincere.I do not wish to treat friendship daintily, but with roughest courage.” From these words, we know that friendship is built on sincerity, and sincerity is based on equality of personality.Without sincerity and equality of personality, people will not trust others and make friends with others in heart.In addition to this, Aristotle also said that wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is a slow-ripening fruit.Maybe it only takes one second time to be friends, but you will spend more time to establish friendly relationships.Pure friendship without judgment can enrich our life.We have our own judgments on our friends according to their virtues.Though you find virtues in your friends, he was your friend before you found them.If you choose your friends on the ground that you are virtues and want virtuous company, you are no nearer to true friendship than of choosing them for commercial reasons.Though you may choose the virtuous to be your friends, they may not choose you as a friend.Nevertheless, without judgment does not mean that you should ignore what is right and wrong to support you friends without condition.Unquestioning support will bring disaster finally.From this article, people may feel that it is not easy to find a real friend.In fact the problem is we require too much from friendship, such as the sense of belonging, obligation and other virtues.If we get rid of this kind of demand and fetter, we will understand the friendship clearly and enjoy it completely.Friendship is just like a seed which we should look after carefully.Cherish is a virtue.A friend is a friend;you should cherish the relationship maintain it with hearts.What‟s more, we should

9.英文读书笔记 篇九

果然过了一会儿，在那个地方出现了太阳的小半边脸，红是真红，却没有亮光。这个太阳好像负着重荷似的一步一步、慢慢地努力上升，到了最后，终于冲破了云霞，完全跳出了海面，颜色红得非常可爱。一刹那间，这个深红的圆东西，忽然发出了夺目的亮光，射得人眼睛发痛，它旁边的云片也突然有了光彩。

英文：

As expected, the sun soon appeared revealing half of its face, which was very red but not bright. It kept rising laboriously bit by bit as if weighted down with a heavy burden on its back until，after breaking through the rosy clouds ;it completely emerged from the sea aglow with a lovely red. Then，before I knew it, the dark red orb began to shine blazingly, dazzling my eyes until they stung and all of a sudden lighting up the surrounding cloud.

要点：

1，“这个太阳好像负着重荷似的一步一步、慢慢地努力上升…”译为It kept rising laboriously bit by bit as if weighted down with a heavy burden on its back…其中laboriously 包含“慢慢地”和“努力”两重意义，它还是 一个多音节词 ，有意 地延 长 阅读 的时间 ， 让 读者在 阅读 中真切 地感 受 日出的缓 慢过程，本句用了拟人手法，而译文的laboriously，weighted down with等词，也很好地表现了原文的修辞意

2，“一刹那间，这个深红的圆东西…”译为before I knew it, the dark red orb…，其中before I know it (或before I know where I was,before I was aware of it)在此意为“一刹那间”,此处译者并没有译为in the twinkling of an eye,或者soon

3，“圆东西”译为orb，较round thing更加形象~

4，“颜色红得非常可爱”即“发出可爱的红光”译为be aglow with a lovely red,aglow意为“发亮的，发红的”

5，”射得人眼睛发痛“译为dazzling my eyes until they stung,其中until在此意为”以至于…”

6,” 它旁边的云片也突然有了光彩”为了避免再起一句，译者转换了主语与前句进行了合译，原文中几个小分句都围绕着“ 深红的圆东西” 这个 中心点，因此在翻译时，把 它作为主语 ， 再运用 两个并 列 的现在 分词短语 把 语 意融 合 在一 起 ，结 构紧凑 、意思连贯 ， 同时也符合 英语 “ 头轻 尾重 ” 的表达习惯

综述：

10.读书的英文演讲稿 篇十

关键词：城市史,近代史,现代转型

From a modest start in the 1970s,the history of modern China became one of the most active fields of academic research in recent years.On the basis of the increasingly availability of source materials and the development of social science theories,the past three decades saw a substantial reassessment of China’s Republican era(1911-1949).

1 Beyond the Revolutionary Paradigm and the Anti-urban Stance

Originally,scholarly priorities were focused on the early history of the Chinese Communist Party and on the socio-economic analysis of the countryside where the Chinese revolution had achieved its first success.In the two Republican-era volumes of the Cambridge History of China,the 1911-1949 period was seen as one of destructive disintegration of an old,predominantly rural,social and political order presided over by a corrupt and ineffective Nationalist state.Accordingly,the Republican era was often perceived as a passing moment epitomized by political corruption,student movements,and revolutionary parties,a confused interregnum between the Qing dynasty and the Communist state.

Since 1980s,the scholarship has broken away from the revolutionary paradigm and the anti-urban stance of the Maoist era,and viewed the Republican period increasingly as part of a continuous transition during which China modified its traditional society and adapted to new roles in world affairs——sometimes with considerable success.[1]The research focus has shifted away from early Republican national governments and national revolutionary movements towards local social organizations,cultural history and so on.

Particularly,cities,as the locus of modern and vibrant centers of economic,social,and cultural change,have received a growing interest in both China and abroad.Actually before the1970s,cities and urban life were not of major interest to scholars researching modern Chinese history,perhaps because,as Mark Elvin and G.William Skinner suggested,scholars were“bemused by the fact that the Maoist revolution came from the countryside and seem?ingly(though only seemingly)bypassed the cities as agents of change.”[2]In The Chinese City between Two Worlds which was published in 1974,Elvin and Skinner asserted the his?torical significance of cities in China,and launched studies on the modernization of traditional Chinese cities.As they indicated,“China’s first encounter with modern industrial civilization took place in the cities;it was in the cities too,that Chinese efforts at moderniza?tion began.”

2 Remaking Chinese Cities in Early Twentieth Century

The early twentieth century,from the last decade of the Qing dynasty(1644-1911)through the republican era(1911-1949),saw a major effort to remake Chinese cities,which before had been treated mainly as hubs for trade and seats of central government.Thethrusts of reformist efforts concentrated in a few spheres,above all,remaking the urban spatial regime(architecture and urban planning),and sprucing up the city and its people(sanitation and public hygiene).[3]Drawing on Western models as well as established Chinese institutions,urban reformers began to apply modern city planning and administration,and sought to remake Chinese cities clean,healthy,safe,orderly,efficient,productive by promoting a new type of orderly and productive urban community.This kind of urban transformation,with both physical and social manifestations,has been acquiring historians’earnest concerns.

Since the 1980s,some studies have crossed the old chronological boundaries like 1911,and centered on the last years of the Qing dynasty and the republican period,when Chinese administrators and entrepreneurs attempted to come to terms with and/or take advantage of the new urban culture developing in the foreign-run areas of the treaty ports.[4]

Some scholars have investigated a much broader range of issues related to the physical,political,social and cultural transformation of the modern Chinese city,for instance,Michael Tsin’s on Guangzhou municipal government,Kristin Stapleton’s on urban planning and administration in Chengdu,Frederic Wakeman’s on the Shanghai police,Ruth Rogaski’s about Bureau of Public Hygiene in Tianjin,Brett Sheehan’s on banks,and Shi Mingzheng’s urban infrastructure in warlord Beijing,and other researches about public utility companies.These studies,mostly focusing on one aspect of a specific city,articulate the development of new institutions and infrastructure in modern Chinese cities,and make diversified evaluations of urban reformist projects.

Besides,certain amount of works puncture the modern fa?ade and present a much more complex view of republican Chi?nese cities.Beyond male-dominated elites,some studies have paid attention to the experiences of the industrial working class,sojourners and migrants from the countryside,and women of different classes and statuses.Others explore urban culture through tourism,newspapers,popular novels,pictorials,radio broadcasting,movies,and other popular forms of entertainment.They attempt to uncover connections between urban popular and consumer cultures,and issues whose significance extends beyond the city itself,such as nationalism,the construction of gender identity in a changing society,and Chinese modernity.

3 Shanghai as a Research Focus

Among the existing works on modern Chinese cities,research on Shanghai has flourished since the 1980s.As China’s largest city with its economic and cultural dominance,it has become a singular focus.Marie-Claire Bergere’s The Golden Age of the Chinese Bourgeoisie,1911-1937 connects Republican China’s failed democratic institutions to the relationship between the city’s financial elites and the political authorities.[5]Jr.Parks M.Coble’s The Shanghai Capitalists and the Nationalist Government,1927-1937 refutes the Maoist thesis that the Nationalist regime was bourgeois in class composition.[6]Concerning the lower level of Shanghai society,Emily Honig’s Sisters and Strangers:Women in the Shanghai Cotton Mills,1919-1949 shows that workingclass consciousness in Shanghai was conspicuous only by its absence.[7]Elizabeth J.Perry’s Shanghai on Strike examines the division of the labor force into levels of skill and groups of common places of origin and explores the political significance of such divisions in affiliations with the Nationalists versus the Communists.[8]

Other scholars devote their attention to the social tension and political unrest that troubled the city for most of the Republican period.Po-shek Fu,in Passivity,Resistance,and Collaboration:Intellectual Choices in Occupied Shanghai,1937-1945,presents typologies of moral and political choices made by Shanghai writers living under Japanese military occupation.[9]Jeffrey N.Wasserstrom,in Student Protests in Twentieth-Century China:The View from Shanghai,analyzes the symbolic mediation of collective political protests.[10]How the city was administered and whether it was effectively controlled is masterfully explored by Frederic E.Wakeman in Policing Shanghai,1927-37.[11]How the newly ascendant Guomindang regime established control of this complicated city via the Shanghai municipal government from 1927 to1937 is the subject of Christian Henriot’s informative study,Shanghai,1927-1937:Municipal Power,Locality,and Modernization.[12]On the other side of law and order,Brian Martin studies the Green Gang,[13]and Gail Hershatter analyzes the world of Shanghai’s prostitutes.[14]

There are important studies of Republican Shanghai’s national and international businesses like Big Business in China:Sino-Foreign Rivalry in the Cigarette Industry,1890-1930.[15]On merchant organizations,Joseph Fewsmith and Bryna Goodman examine respectively the transformation of such groups in Republican society.[16]

Besides,Shanghai Sojourners contains discussions of many important aspects of Shanghai’s social,political,and cultural history and draws together new research findings made by several of the scholars named above.[17]Lu Hanchao’s Beyond the Neon Lights unforgettably describes the housing projects known as Stone Portals(shikumen)as a locus for the daily life of Shanghai urbanites.Leo Oufan Lee,in Shanghai Modern,remaps Shanghai’s cultural geography,marking out the intricate relations between city and coloniality in the1930s and 1940s.[18]In Shanghai Splendor,Wen-hsin Yeh sketches the rise of a new maritime and capitalist economic culture among Shanghai's middle class,and uncovers the socio-cultural dynamics that shaped the people and their politics.[19]In Cinema and Urban Culture in Shanghai,1922-1943,the contributors,representing the disciplines of film,literature,and ethnomusicology,seek to redefine concepts of cinema and urban culture in Chinese historiography.[20]Traditional performing arts have also received attention.For instance,Carlton Benson examines the transformation of tanci,a popular storytelling genre,and Jin Jiang dissects the rise of the Yue Opera actress in a changing urban public culture,both to highlight the social and cultural changes in Republican Shanghai.[21]

Together these micro-histories of Shanghai offer a kaleidoscopic view of China's leading metropolis as the major site of Chinese modernization in the twentieth century.They present a multi-layered,diversified,cosmopolitan urban fabric interweaving the new and the old,the modern and the traditional.To certain degree,these works have reflected a growing integration into Chinese studies of not-sonew developments in sociology and cultural studies as well as growing access to Chinese archives,which has facilitated a burgeoning of research on topics that were previously largely inaccessible.

However,Shanghai cannot represent the full range and diversity of the urban experience in modern China.The history of modern Chinese cities,in Joseph W.Esherick’s words,lies“beyond Shanghai”.Esherick’s Remaking the Chinese City correspondingly examines other cities like Tianjin,Changchun,Chengdu,Hangzhou,Beijing,Nanjing,Wuhan and Chongqing,seeking to address,in a comparative way,issues that affected modern cities in China and the world.[22]And as researchers from history,political science or international studies,these authors obviously directed much attention to social manifestations,but gradually,some of them have started to turn to spatial practices for their evidence.

4 The Issue of Urban Space

Since the 1990s,the issue of urban space has been advanced as part of the agenda for research in modern China.For instance,Shi Mingzheng deals with the public space to investigate the roles of both the state and society in Beijing’s transformations.He argues that the late Qing and early republican reforms transformed urban space,and the interplay of official and private forces–the municipal government and local gentry and merchants–shaped the outcome.[23]

Regarding the built environment and people’s consciousness of space as a crucial factor to the formation of urban identity in Republican Beijing,Dong Yue scrutinizes spatial and administrative transformations of Republican Beijing,the pattern of power relations revealed in the struggle among different forces to control urban spaces,and statesponsored projects to construct new public,symbolic,and ceremonial spaces.In conclusion,she develops the concept of“recycling”,which describes and theoretically frames a primary mode of material and cultural production and circulation that came to characterize Republican Beijing.[24]

Besides,focusing on the construction of the symbolic legitimacy of a capital city,Charles Musgrove delineates the scientific methodology used to plan the Nationalist Nanjing,the aesthetic experiments used to construct it,the reinvention of traditions used to make official spaces seem sacred and etc.His intention is to demonstrate that the legitimacy was the product of conflicts,rather than the unanimity under the charisma of the late Sun Yat-sen.[25]

In addition to capital cities,Peter Carroll investigates the late nineteenth and early twentieth century transformation of Suzhou’s intellectual,physical,and social urban spaces as government officials,business elites,and common citizens strove to remake a traditional city into a vibrantly modern and distinctly Chinese urban center.[26]There are also studies exploring the changing urban landscapes in cities like Hangzhou,Ningbo,Chengdu,Xiamen,Dalian and so on.

These studies,taking the changing urban landscape as a new forum for discussions,have considerably engaged new developments in cultural history and urban studies.Informed by Michel Foucault’s problematization of disciplinary power,many of them examined the city as a site of both cultural production and cultural representation,and correspondingly presented diversified and complex pictures of the internested physical,intellectual,and social transformations within late Qing and early Republic cities.

5 Conclusion