Abstract

When George Mallory was asked in 1923 by an unnamed reporter in Philadelphia why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, he answered simply and perhaps with no little irritation, ‘”because it is there,”’ a phrase that made him famous. Mallory is still revered by climbers as the shining example of early climbing ability and values, and so the mystery of what really happened to him and climbing partner high on the northern route to the summit endures. When his body was found on Everest in 1999, myths about Mallory seemed to intensify rather than dissipate. But the story of Mallory and his body has another, more complex tale to tell. Mallory was not the perfect climber, and not the faithful, heterosexual husband lionized in the press, from the 1920s to the present. Mallory’s story actually is about the work of masculinity, and the uses of masculinity in mountaineering history. The story of Mallory’s life, death and afterlife is about the enduring myths of male masculinity in climbing.

摘要

1923 年，费城一位不愿透露姓名的记者问乔治·马洛里（George Mallory）为什么要攀登珠穆朗玛峰时，他简单地回答，也许毫不生气，“因为它就在那里”，这句话使他成名。马洛里仍然被登山者尊为早期攀登能力和价值观的光辉典范，因此他和攀登伙伴在通往顶峰的北线高处真正发生的事情的谜团一直存在。当他的尸体于 1999 年在珠穆朗玛峰上被发现时，关于马洛里的神话似乎愈演愈烈而不是消散。但马洛里和他的身体的故事还有另一个更复杂的故事要讲。从 1920 年代到现在，马洛里不是完美的登山者，也不是新闻界热捧的忠诚的异性恋丈夫。马洛里的故事实际上是关于男子气概的工作，以及男子气概在登山历史中的运用。马洛里的生平、死亡和来世的故事是关于攀岩中男性阳刚之气的经久不衰的神话。