曹 红
电影对白的会话含义研究——以《阿甘正传》为例
曹 红
以格莱斯的会话含义理论和合作原则作为理论框架,通过对人物对白的剖析,探讨主人公阿甘的性格特点,剖析其中蕴含的会话含义以及功能。会话含义 合作原则 电影对白 《阿甘正传》《阿甘正传》讲述了一个低能儿阿甘坚持本心走向成功的故事。有关电影各个方面的研究也不少,然而,却鲜有运用会话含义理论去研究本片。因此,作者试图分析人物对白中丰富的会话含义以及功能,以期能更好的理解和欣赏本片。
首先是阿甘和黑人妇女的对话:
Forrest: Hello, My name’s Forrest Gump.
Black Woman: (Silent)
Forrest: You want a chocolate?
Black Woman: (Silent)
Forrest: I could eat about a million and a half of these. My momma always said, “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Forrest: Those must be comfortable shoes. I’ll bet you could walk all day in shoes like that and not feel a thing. I wish I had shoes like that.
Black Woman: My feet hurt.
Forrest: Momma always says there’s an awful lot you could tell about a person by their shoes. Where they’re going, where they’ve been.
Forrest: I’ve worn lots of shoes. I bet if I think about it real hard I could remember my first pair of shoes. Momma said they’d take me anywhere.
黑人女士的回答“My feet hurt”显然并不清晰、准确,违反了合作原则的“避免模糊不清”。而她真正想传达的是她并不想和阿甘交流。但阿甘并未意识到这一点,仍然继续自己的话题,违反了合作原则中“话题要相关”。
第二段选取的是阿甘和妈妈的对话:
Mrs. Gump: Remember what I told you, Forrest.You’re no different than anybody else is.
Forrest: (Silent).
Mrs. Gump: Did you hear what I said, Forrest? You’re the same as everybody else. You are no different.
“different”是委婉语,即不笨。然而就我们所知,他的智力是低于正常人的。阿甘妈妈显然在说她认为并不正确的事,违反了合作原则中质量原则。而阿甘妈妈反复重述那句话,违反了合作原则中的“要简洁”的原则。
第三段选自阿甘和总统的对话:
President Kennedy: Congratulations. How does it feel to be an All-American?
1st Player: It’s an honor, Sir.
President Kennedy: Congratulations. How does it feel to be an All-American?
2nd Player: Very good, Sir.
President Kennedy: Congratulations. How does it feel to be an All-American?
3rd Player: Very good, Sir.
President Kennedy: Congratulations. How do you feel?
Forrest: I gotta pee.
President Kennedy: I believe he said he had to go pee.
总统问他作为全美足球队员的感受,阿甘却错误地理解为问他身体的感觉。阿甘对话语意思的误读源自于“feel”这一词义的不同理解。这里显然违反了合作原则的“方式原则”。此处也产生了电影的喜剧效果。
综上分析,阿甘是一个在智力上有缺陷,但仍旧拥有许多珍贵品质的人;尽管黑人女士对阿甘表现出了漠视,阿甘依旧表达出善意以及真诚之心;阿甘和司机的对话中,阿甘虽然智力低于常人,可依然很有礼貌,并且能够牢记妈妈的忠告,足见阿甘的可爱与单纯。例子无一不显示了阿甘天真、真诚、善良的品质;像 “Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”则揭示生活中的哲理;而阿甘和总统的对话,阿甘那真实,可爱的性子也给该影片增添了幽默色彩。
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曲阜师范大学外国语学院)
曹红(1992-),女,汉族,山东人,硕士,学生,曲阜师范大学外国语学院,研究方向:外国语言文学及应用语言学。