The Nirvana of Myth--A Research on Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.doc

神话的涅槃—对尼尔·盖曼《美国众神》的研究 The Nirvana of Myth--A Research on Neil Gaiman’s American Gods Abstract: American Gods is more a present-day myth than a fantasy. The relationship between myth and literature has taken varying forms. The most obvious form has been the use of myth in works of literature. Actually, myth is considered to be the inner source of all fictions. In other words, it was the primitive form of human literary works. Now and then there are a great number of first- rank authors who are arrested in recomposing of ancient myth among which Gaiman made his outstanding contributions. At the present day, the problems authors are facing all over the seven seas, is that charming fictions cannot stick up to people’s own flesh and blood any more. The traditional ways of story writing were driven to the last ditch. Undertaking such pressure, the revival of myth came into being, whereupon some of the story tellers pick their imagination up from myth, and discovered the possibility of transcending reality. American Gods was thus properly representative of the nirvana of myth. Key words: myth；fiction；literature；tradition；nirvana 摘　要：《美国众神》乃是一部现代的神话。神话与文学之间的关系具有种种不同的形式，最显而易见的是在文学作品中使用神话。而事实上神话是所有小说的源泉，或者说，它是人类历史最初的小说。伟大的作家往往都倾心于神话的创造与再创造，尼尔·盖曼对此作出了新的贡献。如今，全世界的作家面临的一大问题，就是现实往往比小说更加精彩，传统的小说叙事已陷入困局。面对这样的压力，回归神话就逐渐成为了一股文学潮流。一些作家从神话中重新拾回了想象力，发现了超越现实的可能，使传统神话重获新生。 关键词：神话；小说；文学；传统；涅槃 Contents I. Introduction…………………………………………………………….1 A. An Introduction to the Author.................................................................1 B. A General View about the Story………………………………………………..1 II. Exploration of the Significance of American Gods…………………..2 A. The Revival of Myth………………………………………………......2 B. A Reorientation of America…………………………………………....3 C. An Examination of American Spirit…………………………………....6 1. Descriptions of American Religion…………………………………6 2. Finality of American Dream………………………….……………6 3. An Apocalypse of the Lost Gods……………………...……………8 III. Conclusion……………………….………………