“The less said the soonest mended”

IF 0.2 2区文学 0 LITERATURE

NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE Pub Date : 2023-09-01 DOI:10.1525/ncl.2023.78.2.142

Jody Griffith

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Jody Griffith, “‘The less said the soonest mended’: Time and Etiquette in The Way We Live Now” (pp. 142–163) Anthony Trollope’s novels were usually popular, but his 1875 novel The Way We Live Now was an exception. Contemporary readers and critics alike considered the novel unpleasant, or even rude. This article argues that reception was not only a response to the novel’s unlikable characters, but also to its uncomfortable temporal disruptions. The novel’s frequently repeated maxim “the less said the soonest mended” connects saying too much with incivility; to say less means to move quickly back to the status quo. The novel says “too much” by slowing down the present moment into its fragmented parts. The “now” in the title The Way We Live Now emphasizes the temporality of its narrative form, especially the tension of stabilizing a discrete present moment within the forward momentum of a novel. The instability of the “now” is a thematic focus of the novel, with characters unsettled by changing etiquette expectations. Similarly, as timelines slow down and speed up, skip ahead and reverse, the novel leaves us as temporally disoriented as the characters.

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“说得越少，补得越快”

安东尼·特罗洛普(Anthony Trollope)的小说通常很受欢迎，但他1875年的小说《我们现在的生活方式》是个例外。当代读者和评论家都认为这部小说令人不快，甚至粗鲁无礼。本文认为，人们对这部小说的接受不仅是对其不讨人喜欢的人物的回应，也是对其令人不安的时间中断的回应。小说中经常重复的格言“说得越少，补得越快”将说得太多与不礼貌联系在一起;少说意味着迅速回到现状。小说通过将当下放慢到支离破碎的片段来表达“太多”。书名《我们现在的生活方式》中的“现在”强调了其叙事形式的时间性，特别是在小说的前进势头中稳定离散的现在时刻的张力。“现在”的不稳定是小说的主题焦点，人物因不断变化的礼仪期望而不安。同样，随着时间线的减速和加速，向前跳跃和反转，小说让我们和人物一样暂时迷失方向。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

NINETEENTH-CENTURY LITERATURE LITERATURE-

CiteScore

0.30

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0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： From Ozymandias to Huckleberry Finn, Nineteenth-Century Literature unites a broad-based group of transatlantic authors and poets, literary characters, and discourses - all discussed with a keen understanding of nineteenth -century literary history and theory. The major journal for publication of new research in its field, Nineteenth-Century Literature features articles that span across disciplines and explore themes in gender, history, military studies, psychology, cultural studies, and urbanism. The journal also reviews annually over 70 volumes of scholarship, criticism, comparative studies, and new editions of nineteenth-century English and American literature.