ABSTRACT

What makes a realist novel an arborealist novel? What does narrative and, in particular, what does the novel need to learn or unlearn in order to ‘do’ trees? This article looks at two contemporary novels – Annie Proulx’s Barkskins (2016) and Richard Powers’ The Overstory (2018) – whose main interest has shifted from predominantly portraying human affairs to mobilising a more-than-human eco-narratological dynamic. By invoking the possibility of a plant-led creative impetus, their arborealist outlook and orientation take the traditional novel form out of its realist comfort zone and probe its deeply-ingrained anthropocentric limitations. Following a critical review that examines a wide range of ideas about vegetal agency, and the communicative and inscriptive capabilities of plants, Proulx is shown to experiment with arborealism within the paratextual framework of her novel, while Powers appears embarked upon a full-on, state-of-the-art instantiation of the arboreal sublime.

摘要

是什么让现实主义小说成为树栖小说？叙事，特别是小说需要学习或忘记什么才能“做”树？本文着眼于两部当代小说——安妮·普鲁克斯的《树皮》（2016 年）和理查德·鲍尔斯的《The Overstory 》（2018 年）——其主要兴趣已从主要描绘人类事务转变为动员超越人类的生态叙事动态。通过调用以植物为主导的创作动力的可能性，他们的树栖主义观点和方向将传统小说形式从现实主义的舒适区中解放出来，并探索其根深蒂固的以人类为中心的局限性。在对有关植物能动性以及植物的交流和铭文能力的广泛观点进行了批判性审查之后，Proulx 被证明在她的小说的超文本框架内尝试了树栖主义，而 Powers 似乎开始了一个全面的状态树栖崇高的最先进的实例化。