Although some critical responses to Chang-rae Lee’s much lauded first novel, Native Speaker, have singled out the novel’s pitting of the conventions of realism against those of the spy thriller genre (Chen) or its treatment of gender issues (Park and Wald); critque invariably turns quickly to matters of ethnicity (along with closely related topics like race, nationalism, and language proficiency). When intertextual links to other writers’ works are proposed these too are generally contextualized in relation to ethnicity–whether this involves white American writers (Moreau), African American writers (Wu, Kim, Kun Jong Lee), or other Asian American writers (Chen). Chang-rae Lee himself has nudged critical response in this direction by claiming about Native Speaker that “It’s a story about language, the power of language, and how immigrants have a fraught, maybe dire relationship with language” (“Lecture”). Nevertheless, in interviews he has also tended to play down the idea of a primary focus on immigrant communities, saying, for instance, “I try not to think about particular issues in Asian American identity” (Interview). Lee has also highlighted the way in which as an author who is also a “passionate” reader, he endeavors through his writing to convey this passion to his readers. (“On the Fly”) Such comments may be regarded as raising the question–in relation to Native Speaker and the human condition in general–which are more primary: ethnic attachments or the bonds between authors (speakers) and readers (listeners)? In “The Poverty of Primordialism” social scientists Jack David Eller and Reed M. Coughlan claim that rather than being “primordial” or “primeval” in the sense of “something that has persisted from the beginning,” ethnicity is always subject to variation through time depending on social interaction and emotion or “affectivity” (186, 187). Although their argument has been much contested (especially by Steven Grosby, “The Verdict”), it may be considered useful for indicating that primordialism can be reconfigured in ways that do

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“一个好故事？”：作者、读者和母语者讲故事

尽管对李昌来广受赞誉的第一部小说《母语者》的一些批评性回应指出，这部小说将现实主义的传统与间谍惊悚类型（陈）或对性别问题的处理（帕克和沃尔德）进行了对比；批评总是很快转向种族问题（以及密切相关的话题，如种族、民族主义和语言能力）。当提出与其他作家作品的互文链接时，这些通常也与种族相关——无论这涉及美国白人作家 (Moreau)、非裔美国作家 (Wu、Kim、Kun Jong Lee) 还是其他亚裔美国作家 (Chen ）。Chang-rae Lee 本人通过声称母语为“这是一个关于语言的故事，语言的力量，以及移民如何与语言有着令人担忧的、甚至是可怕的关系”（“讲座”）。尽管如此，在采访中，他也倾向于淡化主要关注移民社区的想法，例如，“我尽量不考虑亚裔美国人身份的特定问题”（采访）。Lee 还强调了作为一名同时也是“热情”读者的作者，他努力通过写作向读者传达这种热情。（“即时”）此类评论可能被视为提出了一个问题——与母语人士和一般人类状况相关——哪个更重要：种族依恋或作者（演讲者）和读者（听众）之间的联系？在“原始主义的贫困”中，社会科学家 Jack David Eller 和 Reed M. Coughlan 声称，与其说是“从一开始就一直存在的事物”意义上的“原始”或“原始”，种族总是会随着时间而变化，这取决于社会互动和情感或“情感”（186、187） . 尽管他们的论点备受争议（尤其是史蒂文·格罗斯比（Steven Grosby）的“判决”），但它可能被认为有助于表明原始主义可以通过以下方式重新配置