ABSTRACT

This article considers attitudes towards the British Empire as depicted in the BBC television mini-series Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (BBC 1979). Broadcast at the end of the 1970s, the decade in which the post-empire era drew to a close, the series shares with its mass audience complex emotions which relate to a pervading sense of national decline. The substance of this exchange – the message of the text and the nature of its reception – indicates a multi-faceted response to the empire grand narrative, especially its final chapter and postscript. How does Tinker Tailor broach the theme of post-empire loss? To what extent does series protagonist George Smiley represent a particular attitude towards empire? In answer to these questions, this article maintains that meditations on the past helped television audiences make sense of their fractured, post-empire present. And that in his quest to unmask a traitor, or Kim Philby-esque ‘mole’, within MI6, Smiley is as much concerned with conserving aspects of tradition and identity as he is with conflict in purely ideological and geopolitical terms.

摘要

本文考虑了 BBC 电视迷你系列Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy（BBC 1979）中描述的对大英帝国的态度。在 1970 年代末期播出，也就是后帝国时代接近尾声的十年，该系列与广大观众分享了与普遍的国家衰落感相关的复杂情绪。这种交流的实质——文本的信息和接收的性质——表明了对帝国宏大叙事的多方面回应，尤其是它的最后一章和后记。修补匠裁缝如何提出后帝国损失的主题？系列主角乔治·斯迈利在多大程度上代表了对帝国的特殊态度？为了回答这些问题，本文认为，对过去的沉思有助于电视观众理解他们破碎的、后帝国时代的现状。在寻求揭露军情六处的叛徒或金菲尔比式的“鼹鼠”的过程中，史迈利既关心保护传统和身份的方面，也关心纯粹意识形态和地缘政治方面的冲突。