"Lux in Tenebris":The Symbolic Use of Color Red in Dubliners  

作　　者：鲁擎雨 LU Qing-yu(Peking University,Beijing 100871,China)

机构地区：[1]北京大学

出　　处：《海外英语》2019年第11期211-214,共4页Overseas English

摘　　要：Dubliners is known to be characterized with permeating darkness and a lack of light,which serves as a sign for religious,political,cultural and spiritual darkness that shrouds the city as well as psychological predicaments that trap,frustrate and paralyze Dublin citizens.Yet despite the dimmed,somber natural environment where plots unfold,the texts are sprinkled with vivid use of colors,whose symbolic significance remains understudied.The color red is used in Dubliners to symbolize life and hope.Though in general characters have ghoulishly colored skin,their faces are always smeared with a shade of red,just like the invading darkness in Dubliners is always dotted with a few spots of red light,which conveys the message that Dublin is not solely characterized by a state of paralysis or death-in-life,but also by a ray of hope and national revival.Therefore,overemphasis on the motif of darkness and paralysis does not do justice to Joyce’s underlying expectation for his people to break free from the shackles of religious and political oppression and finally achieve national independence.Dubliners is known to be characterized with permeating darkness and a lack of light, which serves as a sign for religious,political, cultural and spiritual darkness that shrouds the city as well as psychological predicaments that trap, frustrate and paralyzeDublin citizens. Yet despite the dimmed, somber natural environment where plots unfold, the texts are sprinkled with vivid use ofcolors, whose symbolic significance remains understudied. The color red is used in Dubliners to symbolize life and hope. Though ingeneral characters have ghoulishly colored skin, their faces are always smeared with a shade of red, just like the invading darknessin Dubliners is always dotted with a few spots of red light, which conveys the message that Dublin is not solely characterized by astate of paralysis or death-in-life, but also by a ray of hope and national revival. Therefore, overemphasis on the motif of darknessand paralysis does not do justice to Joyce’s underlying expectation for his people to break free from the shackles of religious andpolitical oppression and finally achieve national independence.

关 键 词：DUBLINERS James JOYCE COLOR SYMBOLISM RED DARKNESS 

分 类 号：I106.4[文学—世界文学]