The biographer has to dance between two shaky positions with respect to the subject (研究对象). Too close a relation, and the writer

admin2013-06-02  46

问题     The biographer has to dance between two shaky positions with respect to the subject (研究对象). Too close a relation, and the writer may lose objectivity. Not close enough, and the writer may lack the sympathy
necessary to any effort to portray a mind, a soul— the quality of life. Who should write the biography of a family, for example? Because of their closeness to the subject, family members may have special information, but by the same token, they may not have the distance that would allow them to be fair. Similarly, a king’s servant might not be the best one to write a biography of that king. But a foreigner might not have the knowledge and sympathy necessary to write the king’s biography—not for a readership from within the kingdom, at any rate.
    There is no ideal position for such a task. The biographer has to work with the position he or she has in the world, adjusting that position as necessary to deal with the subject. Every position has strengths and weaknesses: to thrive, a writer must try to become aware of these, evaluate them in terms of the subject, and select a position accordingly.
    When their subjects are heroes or famous figures, biographies often reveal a democratic motive: they attempt
to show that their subjects are only human, no better than anyone else. Other biographies are meant to change us, to invite us to become better than we are. The biographies of Jesus (耶酥) found in the Bible are in this class.
    Biographers may claim that their account is the "authentic" one. In advancing this claim, they are helped if the biography is "authorized" by the subject; this presumably allows the biographer special access to private information. "Unauthorized" biographies also have their appeal, however, since they can suggest an independence of mind in the biographer. In book promotions, the "unauthorized" characterzsation usually suggests the prospect of juicy gossip that the subject had hoped to suppress. A subject might have several biographies, even several "authentic" ones. We sense intuitively that no one is in a position to tell "the" story of a life, perhaps not even the subject,and this has been proved by the history of biography.  
According to the author, an ideal biographer would be one who

选项 A、knows the subject very well and yet maintains a proper distance from him
B、is close to the subject and knows the techniques of biography writing
C、is independent and knows the techniques of biography writing
D、possesses special private information and is sympathetic toward the subject

答案A

解析 推论题。题干问根据作者的意见,—个思想的传记作家会是什么样的人。文章第一段便指出:“……与研究对象关系过于密切,作家就会失去客观性。与研究对象关系不够密切,作家就会缺乏写传记所需要的那种同情心。”A项说“既非常了解研究对象又能与之保持一个适当的距离”,这样。就既能保持应有的同情心,又能保持客观性,不失公允。看来理想的传记作家应能准确地把握自己与研究对象之间关系的这个度。 B,C、D3项均不合适,因为3者均没有把作家与研究对象之间的关系作为一个参照标准。故选A。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/DG67777K
0

最新回复(0)