Journal of Maritime Literature and Culture
JMLC, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.165-170.
Print ISSN: 3107-1821; Online ISSN: 3107-183X
Journal homepage: https://www.mlcjournal.com
DOI： https://doi.org/10.64058/JMLC.26.1.15
国族想象的文史航图：评张陟《大海如镜：英美海洋小说研究》
商 倩（Shang Qian）
摘要：张陟所著《大海如镜：英美海洋小说研究》以文史互证为核心方法，贯通18至19世纪英美海洋叙事，系统考察其与国家建构、帝国想象之间的深层关联。作者通过“双向视野”揭示帝国话语内部的分裂与张力，在斯威夫特、康拉德等作家身上呈现殖民批判与时代局限的交织；借助跨文化比较，拆解不列颠内部及大西洋世界的文化差异，将英格兰、苏格兰、爱尔兰与黑人奴隶书写并置为彼此冲突又相互缠绕的叙事谱系。在对美国部分的论述揭示海洋小说如何服务于共和主义与扩张主义，同时以《白鲸》等文本展现对国家危机的文学预警。全书将海洋叙事从类型文学提升为理解现代性、帝国政治与文化权力的典范场域，并为当代海洋书写留下开放的对话空间。
关键词：《大海如镜：英美海洋小说研究》；海洋小说；国家建构；殖民记忆
作者简介：商倩，山东财经大学副教授，研究方向：中日比较文学。电子邮箱：shangqian.1987@163.com。
Title: A Documentary-Historical Nautical Chart of National Imagination: A Review of Zhang Zhi’s The Mirror of the Sea: A Study of English and American Sea Novels
Abstract: Zhang Zhi’s The Mirror of the Sea :A Study of English and American Sea Novels employs a method of mutual corroboration between literature and history to trace maritime narratives from the eighteenth to the nineteenth century, offering a systematic investigation of their deep entanglements with nation-building and imperial imagination. Through a “dual perspective,” the author reveals the internal fractures and tensions within imperial discourse, demonstrating in writers such as Swift and Conrad the intertwining of colonial critique and historical limitation. By means of cross-cultural comparison, the study deconstructs cultural differences within Britain and across the Atlantic world, juxtaposing English, Scottish, Irish, and Black slave narratives as a conflicted yet interwoven genealogy. In its discussion of the American context, the book shows how maritime fiction serves both republicanism and expansionism, while readings of works such as Moby-Dick illuminate literary premonitions of national crisis. Overall, the study elevates maritime narrative from the realm of genre fiction to a paradigmatic site for understanding modernity, imperial politics, and cultural power, while opening up a space for dialogue with contemporary oceanic writing.
Keywords: The Mirror of the Sea: A Study of English and American Sea Novels; maritime fiction; nation-building; colonial memory
Author Biography: Shang Qian, Associate Professor, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, specializing in Chinese-Japanese comparative literature. E-mail: shangqian.1987@163.com.
