本哈德•施林克小说《朗读者》“平庸的恶”现象研究
关键词 朗读者 汉娜 平庸的恶 双重身份
毕 业 论 文 外 文 摘 要
Title Study of “The Banality of Evil” in Bernhard Schlink's The Reader
Abstract This paper endeavors to analyze the heroine Hanna in The Reader through the theory--the banality of evil. It attempts to provide a complete description of the complex features and summarizes the role orientation of Hanna Schmitz. Within the Political Philosophy Theory, this paper places much more emphasis on the common part of Adolf Eichmann and Hanna Schmitz. The study aims to illustrate features of the radical evil and the banality of evil and conclude the reasons leads to the banality of evil.
Keywords The Reader Hanna the banality of evil dual identities
Table of Contents
1 Introduction .1
2 Understandings of The Banality of Evil3
3 Victim and Perpetrator--Hanna's Dual Identities in The Reader5
4 The Reasons Lead to The Banality of Evil.8
4.1 The Unthinkable8
4.2 Totalitarianism9
Conclusion .11
Acknowledgements.12
Bibliography.13
1 Introduction
The Reader, a novel written by German law professor Bernhard Schlink, tells a story took place in Germany after World War II. For a chance, Michael Berg, a mature-beyond-his-ages 15-year-old boy, meeting with an mysterious woman more than twice his age leads to an a passionate, clandestine love affair, which is far more than he ever imagined. The woman in the relationship is Hanna Schmitz, who is not all she seems and leaves Michael both euphoric and confused. A half-dozen years later, Michael became a law student. When he observing a trial, he was shocked to meet Hanna Schmitz again as the person in the dock and realized the woman he had loved was a criminal.
After the trail, Hanna Schmitz was sentenced to life in jail. She began to teach herself to read by borrowing the books from the prison library. In her reading list, there was a book named Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, which is written by Jewish political scientist Hannah Arendt who had escaped Nazi Germany and emigrated eventually to the United States.(Bergen, 6) Following the publication of the book Eichmann in Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil, the concept of "the banality of evil" came into prominence. It has been surrounded by controversy from then on. But its original intention was often misinterpreted. While Bernhard Schlink not only grasp the information in this concept, but also put it so skillfully into his book.
The Reader led to lively scholarly discussion on the topics of memory, guilt, identity, innocence, victimisation in recent years, to name but a few. It is regarded as one of the novels that based on the sober moral questions it poses and have high literary seriousness. With the rich and profound themes of itself, more and more attention have been paid to The Reader. It is known as one of the most successful German novel. Taking a panoramic view of the domestic research status, some experts focus on the subject research, such as
Narrating and Hearing—Multiple Dimensional Perspectives of Humanity in The Reader, Unique Expression of Meditation on Human Nature in The Reader; while others explore the passage form and writing techniques from the view of narratology, such as Space Narrative in The Reader. There are also many studies that focus on the historical meaning brought on by the novel.
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