{"title":"《亚历山大的桥》和《拓荒者啊!》中的解读与奥维德神话","authors":"Paul Olson","doi":"10.1353/gpq.2022.0046","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract:This essay describes interpretive strategies widely applied to Ovidian mythic materials during the period of Cather’s early career, especially those operative in Alexander’s Bridge and O Pioneers! The article assumes that widely held conventional interpretations of myths, in this case Ovidian myths, in a specific time and area are part of their semantic content, or iconology, and are tools Cather used in communicating with her audience. The essay then looks at a passage in the 1912 Alexander’s Bridge and two disputed passages in the 1913 O Pioneers! along with extended Bacchic themes in the latter novel that employ conventional Ovidian iconology. These symbolic clusters were available to her in the early decades of the twentieth century. The historicizing of the interpretation of classical myth makes a significant difference to the understanding of Cather’s novels. Traditional Ovidian iconology, the essay argues, rather than alternative, later approaches to classical myth projected back in time, are crucial to the novels’ meanings. The essay finally examines how an understanding of historical semiological usages undergird our understanding of mythic meanings.","PeriodicalId":12757,"journal":{"name":"Great Plains Quarterly","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.1000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Interpretation and Ovidian Myth in Alexander’s Bridge and O Pioneers!\",\"authors\":\"Paul Olson\",\"doi\":\"10.1353/gpq.2022.0046\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Abstract:This essay describes interpretive strategies widely applied to Ovidian mythic materials during the period of Cather’s early career, especially those operative in Alexander’s Bridge and O Pioneers! The article assumes that widely held conventional interpretations of myths, in this case Ovidian myths, in a specific time and area are part of their semantic content, or iconology, and are tools Cather used in communicating with her audience. The essay then looks at a passage in the 1912 Alexander’s Bridge and two disputed passages in the 1913 O Pioneers! along with extended Bacchic themes in the latter novel that employ conventional Ovidian iconology. These symbolic clusters were available to her in the early decades of the twentieth century. The historicizing of the interpretation of classical myth makes a significant difference to the understanding of Cather’s novels. Traditional Ovidian iconology, the essay argues, rather than alternative, later approaches to classical myth projected back in time, are crucial to the novels’ meanings. The essay finally examines how an understanding of historical semiological usages undergird our understanding of mythic meanings.\",\"PeriodicalId\":12757,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Great Plains Quarterly\",\"volume\":null,\"pages\":null},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.1000,\"publicationDate\":\"2022-09-01\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Great Plains Quarterly\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"1085\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1353/gpq.2022.0046\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"历史学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"N/A\",\"JCRName\":\"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Great Plains Quarterly","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1353/gpq.2022.0046","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"N/A","JCRName":"HUMANITIES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
Interpretation and Ovidian Myth in Alexander’s Bridge and O Pioneers!
Abstract:This essay describes interpretive strategies widely applied to Ovidian mythic materials during the period of Cather’s early career, especially those operative in Alexander’s Bridge and O Pioneers! The article assumes that widely held conventional interpretations of myths, in this case Ovidian myths, in a specific time and area are part of their semantic content, or iconology, and are tools Cather used in communicating with her audience. The essay then looks at a passage in the 1912 Alexander’s Bridge and two disputed passages in the 1913 O Pioneers! along with extended Bacchic themes in the latter novel that employ conventional Ovidian iconology. These symbolic clusters were available to her in the early decades of the twentieth century. The historicizing of the interpretation of classical myth makes a significant difference to the understanding of Cather’s novels. Traditional Ovidian iconology, the essay argues, rather than alternative, later approaches to classical myth projected back in time, are crucial to the novels’ meanings. The essay finally examines how an understanding of historical semiological usages undergird our understanding of mythic meanings.
期刊介绍:
In 1981, noted historian Frederick C. Luebke edited the first issue of Great Plains Quarterly. In his editorial introduction, he wrote The Center for Great Plains Studies has several purposes in publishing the Great Plains Quarterly. Its general purpose is to use this means to promote appreciation of the history and culture of the people of the Great Plains and to explore their contemporary social, economic, and political problems. The Center seeks further to stimulate research in the Great Plains region by providing a publishing outlet for scholars interested in the past, present, and future of the region."