黄卫峰：令人担忧的高校英语专业文学教材——评《美国文学教程》

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《美国文学教程》 是我国高校英语专业使用多年的重要美国文学教材之一。这点从以下数据得到反映：该书1995年8月出版第1版，2006年7月第9次印刷。而且，许多高校将其列为英语文学专业参考书目，因此其影响不容小视。在前言中，该书声称：“Aside from being used as a textbook  
of American literature for English majors of the university, A Course in
American Literature may benefit the broad masses of English learners, considerably,
in their advanced studies.” （该段引文的中文大意是：“《美国文学教程》除了可以被高校英语专业用作美国文学教材外，也可以供进入高级阶段的广大英语学习者使用，他们将受益匪浅。”）换言之，该教材作者心目中的读者有两种：英语专业学生和普通英语学习者。要达到这一目的，该书起码应该满足以下两个要求：其讲述的文学知识准确、系统，使用的语言地道规范。

然而，令人难以理解的是，一本出版多次、经过众多专家审阅的教材却充斥着语言错误。事实上，其错误、尤其是逗号句错误和拼写错误之多，完全可以用“惨不忍睹”来描述。众所周知，教材不同于一般书籍，其读者面大、影响深远。本文希望能够引起学界和相关部门对现今教材出版盛行、但质量粗制滥造现象的重视，通过有力措施切实推进教材质量的改进。同时，希望编者本着对读者负责的精神，对教材进行认真修改。

由于该教材存在问题严重，限于篇幅，本文只列举前面三章所发现的部分典型错误。
                     
一、拼写错误

在科学技术突飞猛进的今天，随着具有自动显示拼写和语法错误功能的电脑的普及和现代印刷技术的应用，英语的拼写错误应该是很容易发现和加以纠正的（笔者在撰写这篇文章时，电脑对其中一些明显的拼写错误作了自动纠正）。然而，《美国文学教材》却出现了成百上千的拼写错误，这是笔者迄今为止所读过的此类错误最为严重的一本书，可以说比盗版书还严重。这些错误毫无疑问不仅会使读者感到困惑，影响理解，而且其权威性也大打折扣。以下是笔者粗读之后发现的此类错误（其中还不包括诗歌之外其他选读作品中的印刷错误）。

1.disconformity（第1页倒数第5行）：disonformity是一个地理学术语，应改为unconformity

2.American indians （第3页第9行）：indians的第一个字母应该大写

3.Mexic（第3页第13行）：应改为Mexico

4.sever（第3页第24行）：应改为severe  

5.Pensylvania（第4页第5行）：应改为Pennsylvania

6.influencial（第4页第8行）：应改为influential  

7.collions（第6页第15行）：应改为collisions

8.mater（第9页倒数第7行）：应改为meter

9.Try（第10页第13行）：应改为Thy

10.is（第16页第7行）：应改为in

11.orded（第16页第30行）：应改为order

12.let along（第17页第2行）：应改为let alone

13.an（第21页第25行）：应改为a

14.Townshed Act（第21页第26行）：应改为Townshend Act

15.in apposition to（第22页第16行）：应改为in opposition to

16.newspaner（第23页第6行）：应改为newspaper

17.apposition（第23页第17行）：应改为opposition

18.furinish（第25页第12行）：应改为furnish

19.intellectuel（第27页第10行）：应改为intellectual

20.Roasseau’s（第28页第5行）：应改为Rousseau’s

21.humanitatrianism（第28页倒数第4行）：humanitarianism

22.and and political virtue（第31页第11行）：应去掉其中的一个and

23.nomial（第32页倒数第9行）：应该改为nominal?（笔者没有把握）

24.universial（第32页倒数第2行）：应该改为universal

25.eaasys（第39页第12行）：应该改为essays

26.Moder Chivalry（第41页第2行）：应该改为Modern Chivalry

27.language, language, and other respects of living（第42页第7行）：应该去掉其中的一个language

28.negociated（第43页倒数第9行）：应改为negotiated

29.then（第44页第13行）：应改为 them

30.pungenct（第44页第13行）：应改为 pungency

31.craftmanship（第47页第3行）：应改为craftsmanship

32.cloaths（第48页倒数第5行）：应改为clothes

33.babitation（第48页倒数第4行）：应改为habitation

34.propagandism（第61页倒数第7行）：应改为propaganda

35.adom（第63页第16行）：应改为adorn  

36.assued（第68页第8行）：应改为assumed

37.safty（第68页倒数第6行）：应改为safety

38.Unted（第69页第21行）：应改为United

39.neutralcommerce（第70页第17行）：应分开写为neutral commerce

40.well-equiped（第70页倒数第2行）：应改为well-equipped  

41.idealsim（第73页第10行）：应改为idealism

42.romanticim（第76页第16行）：应改为romanticism

43.anf（第76页第27行）：应改为and

44.undervarious（第80页第20行）：应分开为under various

45.utiliaed（第81页第8行）：应改为utilized？

46.writhing（第81页第9行）：应改为writing

47.preferance（第85页第9行）：应改为preference

48.sejourn（第86页第6行，第12行）：应改为sojourn

49.grogress（第87页第7行）：应改为progress

50.hen-packed（第87页倒数第5行）：应改为 henpecked

51.an potential（第103页倒数第6行）：其中的an应改为a

52.contninously（第104页倒数第3行）：应改为continuously

53.fundamentaly（第113页第2行）：应改为fundamentally

54.worte（第113页第10行）：应改为wrote

55.sttracted（第113页第22行）：应改为attracted

56.slaverholders（第113页第24行）：应改为slaveholders

57.The in 1859（第113页第27行）：应将其中的The改为Then  

58.continous（第114页倒数第3行）：应改为continuous

59.excerpt（第117页第19行）：应改为except

60.senes（第120页第24行）：应改为scenes

61.end（第121页倒数第1行）：应改为and

62.enviroment（第122页第20行）：应改为environment

63.publivation（第122页第26行）：应改为publication

64.them（第123页第19行）：应改为then

65.pricipal（第123页第19行）：应改为principal

66.sejourn（第123页第22行）：应改为sojourn

67.Alomst （第125页第5行）：应改为Almost

68.By the end of the eighteenth the century（第126页第26行）：应去掉the century 中的the

69.universial（第128页倒数第9行）：应改为universal  

70.gaving（第130页第17行）：应改为giving

71.be（第130页倒数第8行）：应改为by

72.incidentaly（第131页第23行）：应改为incidentally

73.frquent（第141页第15行）：应改为 frequent

74.quatable（第142页第20行）：应改为quotable

75.quate（第142页第21行）：应改为quote

76.remarkabley（第160页12行）：应改为remarkably

77.universial（第160页第24行）：应改为universal

78.universial（第171页第2行）：应改为universal  

79.truely（第172页第9行）：应改为truly

80.exlarged（第172页第16行）：应改为enlarged

81.appiontment（第173页第8行）：应改为appointment

82.continously（第174页第3行）：应改为continuously

83.whith（第175页第2行）：应改为with

84.excerption（第175页第3行）：应改为exception

85.mercylessly（第175页倒数第2行）：应改为mercilessly

86.lage（第200页第14行）：应改为large？

87.Tradedies（第201页倒数第5行）：应改为Tragedies

88.nournful mumbers（第203页第15行）：应改为mournful numbers

89.earyly（第205页第8行）：应改为early

90.sich（第208页第18行）：应改为such

91.verstailely（第208页倒数第3行）：应改为versatilely

92.editorahip（第224页第4行）：应改为 editorship

93.abuncance（第226页第4行）：应改为abundance

94.Dickinso’s（第227页第2行）：应改为Dickinson’s
                          
二、语法错误

1. However, the original sinfulness of a man’s nature could not be mitigated by  
nothing in his personal power, thus his redemption must be a free gift of God’s  
grace.（第2页第8-11行）这句话出现了双重否定not…nothing…，根据上下文，应将not去掉或把nothing把anything。另外，这句用thus连接两个独立句，属于用法错误，参见后面关于thus的用法错误。

2. Different from the French and Spanish colonies which did not possessed  
a representative self-government（第5页倒数第8-10行）问题：在否定句中，助动词did已经表示过去，因此其后的行为动词possess应该用动词原形。这是最基本的英语语法现象，可是作为高校教材，竟然多处出现此类错误，很难想象。

3. This respect paid to essential civil rights began to take root during the  
colonial period, and bring about increasing changes in the social structure,
while breaking down many sorts of special privileges.（第5页倒数第4-1行）问题：从结构和意义上可以看出，动词短语bring about应该与began to take root形成并列关系，因此根据英语中的时态一致原则，也应该使用一般过去式形式，即brought about。

4. As revolting movement became stronger and better organized,  
revolutionary legislatures were created in apposition [opposition] to the old  
regular legislature which were, under the control of the royal governors, composed  
of conservative men and property attached to the existing social order.（第22页第15-19行）问题：既然此前的legislatures用复数，那么the old regular legislature which were中的legislature无论从结构平行还是主谓数一致的语法角度考虑都应该使用复数形式才对。

5. The Congress approved the violent apposition [opposition] of Massachusetts to
the recent acts of British Parliament, and declared as an ultimatum that if  
military force were used against the people of the colony, “all America ought  
to support them” in resistance.（第23页第16-20行）问题：这句话中的从句if military  
force were used显然存在主谓数不一致的情况。

6. It was at this critical moment that the Constitutional Convention held  
in Philadelphia in May, 1787, during which fifty-five delegates wrote a wholly  
new Constitution, instead of revising the Articles of Confederation as called by  
the Continental Congress.（第26页第11-15行）问题：显然，the Constitutional
Convention held in Philadelphia应改为被动语态the Constitutional Convention was held  
in Philadelphia。

7. After the purchase of Louisiana, the Americans turned their attention to this
vast land that had a few ranchers and hunters living in it.（第69页第7-9行）问题：这句中的定语从句不仅不符合英语表达习惯，即表示某地存在某物应该用there be句型之外，而且定语从句本身存在语法问题。显然，定语从句中的in it完全多余。

8. Generally speaking, the poetry of Philip Frenuea bears the first distinctly  
romantic quality in American literature, but it did not established the trend.（第76页第7-10行）这句中的did not established应改为did not establish，这是初中学生都不会犯的错误。

9. Edward Everett and George Ticknor ranked among the representatives of those at
first came into contact with European romanticism…（第76页第18-20行）显然，those
at first came into contact应改为those who at first came into contact才符合英语语法。

10. His travel to Europe brought him not only into contact with romanticism but also  
the meeting with Sir Walter Scott, one the most important English authors of the
period…（第76页倒数第6-4行）这句话中的one the most important 应改为one of the most important才符合英语表达习惯。

11. His Travels in New-England and New York (1821) depicted the natural landscapes
of the two regions, which he observed when he was traveling, with such vividness  
and patriotic love as that it displayed in the face of readers a
picturesque representation of beautiful nature, and stimulated him to devote his  
love to nature.（第79页第23-28行）这句话中as that it displayed in the face of readers  
a picturesque representation of beautiful nature, and stimulated him to devote his  
love to nature存在结构错误。

12. In 1815, driven by his sorrow over the death of his fiancée, Irving sailed again  
for England, thus began to remain abroad for seventeen years.（第85页第23-25行）应将
began改为beginning才符合英语语法。另外，begin to remain abroad for seventeen years在逻辑上也有问题。

13. It was him who introduced the familiar essay from Europe to America.（第86页第26-27行）问题：这是一个强调句，被强调成分为句中主语，因此应将宾格him改为主格he。

14. and the people, who supported the free-soil policy and insisted that slavery  
must not expand one inch farther, were greatly increased in number.（第112页倒数第5-3行）问题：根据上下文和英语特点，这句话的主句应使用主动语态。

15. With this daring, arresting novel Mrs. Stowe manifested how inseparable  
cruel exploitation came from slavery and how fundamentally irreconcilable were free  
and slave societies.（第113页第12-15行）问题：这句话的宾语是两个how引导的从句。第一个
how从句不知道作者要表达什么意思，但显然存在语法错误，第二个how从句语序错误，应将were放在句尾。

16. Lincoln’s election was the choice of the people, distinctly representing  
their aspiration for a peaceful union and for the restriction slavery.（第114页第5-7行）问题：for the restriction slavery缺少一个介词，应改为for the restriction on slavery。

17. The Civil War and the period of reconstruction marked a crucial phase in  
the political and economic development of American society, and thereafter
America emerge with unexampled strength.（第116页第19-22行）问题：这句话存在时态错误，第二个句子不能使用一般现在时。

18. Railroads had replaced canals and rivers as the main transportational arteries,  
and the locomotive ran between the East and the West to bring the two regions  
more closely than the previous steamboat ever had.（第116页第24-27行）问题：分析这句话的结构可以看出，closely在这里作宾补，应使用形容词形式close。

19. In 1847 his medical learning and teaching experience for years enabled him to  
become Parkman Professor of Anatomy and Philosophy at Harvard, a position where he  
serve for thirty-five years.（第121页第2-4行）问题：这句话的从句中存在主谓数不一致问题和时态错误。

20. Thoreau was a man of simple tastes and high idealism. His pursuit of a  
“higher law” and his strong sense rebellion made up a momentous part of life life.（第124页第2-4行）问题：这句话中his strong sense rebellion中应添加一个介词，改为his  
strong sense of rebellion。另外，还多了一个life。

21. That year he married Ellen Tucker, whose untimely death less than two years
deeply grieved him throughout his life.（第140页第13-14行）问题：less than two years在句子中充当什么成分？应添加一个介词。

22. During the period from 1836 to 1856 the bulk of his important work were  
published.（第141页第11-12行）问题：这句话存在主谓数不一致问题。从语意上分析，显然在这二十年期间，不止发表一部作品，因此work应改用复数形式works，这样也才可以与谓语部分的were在数上保持一致。这种单复数形式随意使用的情况，教材中多次出现。

23. Although Emerson has been widely known as a philosopher, he was not an  
original philosopher, as he recognized, “I am too young yet be several ages,”  
“to compile a code.”（第141页倒数第6-4行）问题：这句话不仅存在逗号句错误，而且两处引文显然不符合英语规范。既然这两处引文在语法上构成一个句型，应通过省略号或改为间接引语的方法合并在一起。

24. Emerson’s language is also characterized by frequent use of metaphor that are
full of freshness, imaginativeness, and experience, but less dependent on literature.（第142页第24-27行）问题：定语从句存在主谓数不一致问题，应把metaphor改为复数形式。

25. Most of his themes came to him from solitude, not from the life of society as  
was the tradition of the eighteen-century poets.（第143页第1-2行）问题：应在society后、
as前添加一个逗号。

26. At he age of four Whitman moved with his family to Brooklyn, which was not quiet  
a city in size at that time, and thus permitted Whitman to experience a vital  
cross section of American common life.（第171页第11-14行）问题：这句话中的定语从句不仅不符合英语语法，而且让人不知所云。

27. What is certain that his visit to her in Amherst in 1862 marked the beginning of
the strange years of her retirement which was finally ended by her death.（第221页第25-27行）问题：这句话结构不完整，主句缺少谓语，应该在what is certain后添加is。
                       
三、词语用法错误
                 
（一）一般性错误

书中所出现不少中国学生受汉语影响所容易犯的词语用法错误。

1.Thereafter, he spent all his life in a superhuman ferment of activity and  
publication which concerned, in addition to his parish duties, with many of  
the contemporary public issues.（第15页第1-3行）问题：concern在英语中是及物动词，表示“关于”时应使用be concerned with结构，即应在which 和concerned中插入be的某种形式。

2.Despite of the disadvantages, the patriots carried out the struggles bravely
and resolvedly.（第24页第6-8行）问题：in spite of和despite意思一样，都表示“尽管”，后接名词短语。但许多中国学生往往把这两个表达方式混淆，把despite与of连用。该句就出现了这种问题。这种错误搭配还出现以下在这句中：At the height of the Revolution, he kept  
composing new poems and revising the old ones despite of his involvement in
political propagandism.（第61页）

3.More and more people set about to translate these ideas into reality with their  
own efforts.（第25页第1-2行）问题：动词短语set about表示“开始做某事”，后面可以接名词或动名词，但不能接不定式，因此应将set about to translate改为set about translating。顺便一提的是，另一个相似的动词短语set out也表示“开始做某事”，但其后只能接带to的动词不定式。

4.In 1778 France and the United States signed a treaty of alliance, in accordance
to which France prepared to send over six thousand excellent troops to
reinforce Washington.（第25页第9-11行）问题：在英语中，有in accordance with和
according to之类表达方式，但没有in accordance to这种搭配习惯。

5.In 1788 when the Constitution was ratified by the states and came into effect,  
the power of government became centralized and divided into three branches which  
were independent respectively and checked by the others.（第26页第15-18行）问题：这里
the others用法错误。而且按照美国政治体制的实际情况，改为each other更为准确。

6.A progressive intellectual movement, the Enlightenment contributed to free  
the Americans from the limitations of Puritanism which had been prevailing in
American society since the seventeenth century, and stimulate them to strive for  
the establishment of their independent and democratic nation.（第29页第11-16行）问题：英语动词短语contribute to后接名词短语或动名词，不能接动词不定式。

7.At the height of the Revolution, he kept composing new poems and revising the old  
ones despite of his involvement in political propagandism.（第61页第26-28行）问题：despite不能与of搭配使用。

8.The annexation of Texas was an other example.（第69页第5行）问题：显然，这句中的
an other example应改为another example。

9.In addition to the internal division, the American army reduced by Jeffersonian
policy of economy to fewer than three thousand troops were incapable to fight  
against the well-equiped and better-trained army of the strongest nation in the  
world.（第70页倒数第5-1行）问题：英语中incapable的用法是incapable of doing，因此应将incapable to fight改为incapable of fighting。

10.They advocated respect for the common man, human and civil rights, supported  
or participated abolition and other reforms.（第72页第26-28行）问题：英语中，
participate是不及物动词，其后应添加介词in，才能与名词搭配。

11.Romanticism and Transcendentalism shared some similarities, like emphasis of  
the significance of imagination, insistence upon individualism, and pursuit of  
a literature that would discard neoclassical conceptions of formality, order,
and correctness, they gave to American literature not only fresh, significant
aesthetic theories but also a number of great writers.（第78页倒数第3行-第79页第4行）问题：这句话存在搭配错误，emphasis of the significance应改为 emphasis on the significance。此外，该句还存在逗号句错误。

12.Irving was a creative writer, not a theorist, nor a system builder, he  
never formulated a set of literary principles, since he lacked of the  
necessary enthusiasm for literary probing…（第89页第9-11行）问题：英语中，lack作动词用时是及物动词，因此应去掉其后的of。只有在作名词用时，lack才与of搭配使用。另外，本句还存在逗号句错误。

13.His first collection Poems appeared in Boston in 1821, which consisted eight of  
his poems…（第104页第12-13行）问题：consist用法错误，应改为which consists of his
eight poems。

14.The Puritans were members of the Church of England who at first wished to reform  
or “purify” its doctrines, however, their own firm belief and disconformity with  
the Church finally led to their withdrawal from it and a great Puritan exodus. （第1页倒数第7-4行）问题：however虽然与but一样也是转折连词，但其用法相差很大。but是并列连词，所连接的独立句与前面的独立句构成并列句，放在所连接的句子之首；而however连接的独立句必须单独成句，不能与另外一个独立句用逗号连接成为一个句子，其位置比较灵活，可以置于句首、句中或句尾。对此特殊用法，《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》等词典予以专门说明。
                     
（二）thus和therefore的用法错误

thus和therefore虽然可以表示“因此，所以”的意思，但在英语中是副词，而不是连词，因此不能单独用来连接两个独立句，而必须添加and等连词，或另起一句。以下是抄自《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》等权威词典的相关例子：Fewer pupils will attend the schools, and they will thus
have fewer teachers. / Someone had removed all the evidence. Thus, it was
now impossible for the police to continue their investigation. / I no longer have  
the support of the committee. I have therefore decided to resign. / This is a  
building contract. Therefore, we recommend that you review it with a lawyer. 但许多中国学生受汉语的影响，想当然地把它用作连词。这是典型的中式英语错误。令人遗憾的是，该书中也存在不少此类错误。

1.However, the original sinfulness of a man’s nature could not be mitigated by
nothing in his personal power, thus his redemption must be a free gift of God’s
grace.（第2页第8-11行）

2.British shipping was given a monopoly of the carriage, at rates fixed in England,  
thus the mother country was assured of a credit balance.（第5页第14-16行）

3.From the very beginning, European colonists had been striving for their  
own geographical expansion and growth of power and interests, therefore, all sorts  
of collions [应为collisions] between them were inevitable.（第6页第13-16行）

4.As to the Puritan concept beauty, they believed that beauty was, as Thomas  
Hooker defined, “that sweet correspondence and orderly usefulness the Lord  
first implanted in the order of things,” thus the Puritans equated beauty with  
utility and orded [应为order].（第16页第26-30行）

5.The Enlighteners in Europe and America emphasized the belief in the attainment
of social progress by man himself, by education and by the development of science  
and technology, therefore many of the scientists, inventors, other kinds of men  
of knowledge were stimulated to work for the development of society.（第29页第19-24行）

6.The American government was a government of special interests, thus the  
different viewpoints toward the French Revolution revealed that the
politicians representing. the interests of different classes all made use of  
this occasion and foreign influence to obtain more advantages as well as interests.（第67页倒数第4行-第68页第1行）

7.American transcendentalists were radical individualists, the typical  
representatives of whom were literary men rather than logical system builders, thus  
it is difficult to arrive at a full definition of Transcendentalism.（第72页倒数第4-1行）

8.Being believers of a theological monism, transcendentalists held that the  
divine immanence of God co-existed with the universe and the individual, thus it

was possible for the correspondence between the microcosm of the individual mind  
and the macrocosmic Oversoul of the universe.（第73页第16-20行）

9.Influenced by Garrison, Whittier was active in the anti-slavery movement during  
the period, thus some of these volumes, like Voices of Freedom, were characterized
by their anti-slavery theme.（第120页第2-5行）

10.Poe’s works, which include fiction, legend, tales, poetry, and critical  
articles, are directed toward universial [应为universal] human responses, thus
the passing of time and ages can hardly change their values.（第128页倒数第10-8行）

11.The reasons that account for this lie in that Poe believes that the elevation
of excitement of the soul should be “the poetic principle,” thus poetry must  
concern itself only with “supernal beauty”, not with the narration of story, nor  
even with the beauty of particular things.（第130页第12-16行）

12.Likewise, his traditional style sometimes seems excessively rational, and lacks
the inventiveness that he displays in his literary conceptions, thus it incidentaly [应为incidentally] fails to manifest Poe’s original ideas with appropriate effect.（第131页第21-24行）
                        
（三）moreover的用法错误

与thus和therefore的用法问题相似，moreover虽然表示“而且”的意思，但它并不是连词，而是副词。因此，必须另起一句，不能连接两个并列句。下面的句子都存在此类问题。

1. With an unshakable belief in the power of reason, the Enlighteners  
regarded “enlightenment” or “education” as the principal means for the  
development of a society, moreover, they showed larger concerns for civil rights, a  
more comprehensive democracy in government, and general toleration rather than  
earlier religious mysticisms.（第27页第13-18行）

2. Franklin was in the full conviction that literature ought to be  
utilitarian, moreover, he advise that literature should be presented  
“clearly, concisely, and naturally, without affected Words or high-flown Phrases”,  
so that literature could be easily comprehensible and more effective for its purpose.（第31页第13-18行）这句话除了moreover用法错误之外，还存在时态不一致问题或主谓不一致问题。本句其他地方使用的都是过去时，为何he advise突然改为一般现在时？即使这种改变是有道理的，那么也存在主谓不一致问题。主语he是第三人称单数，谓语动词advise为何不加s？

3. Many of Poe’s conceptions have become a part of the tradition of American
literature and its criticism, moreover, they have been exerting a great and  
enduring influence upon world literature, especially that of France and  
European symbolism, in their demand for the intellectual analysis and  
controlled perception of emotional consciousness.（第129页第2-7行）这句话除了存在moreover的用法错误外，还存在其他问题。不知这里的controlled是作什么成分？

4. His exposure to European culture and tradition never shook his love for his motherland, nor changed his faith in the consistent grogress of his own
people, moreover his independent literary personality and American roots enabled him
to express what had impressed him in Europe, with enthusiasm, critical attitude,  
and graceful style.（第87页第5-10行）
                           
四、逗号句问题

所谓逗号句错误，即只用逗号连接两个或以上的独立句。我们知道，汉语重意合，一个句子可由好几个短句组成，它们之间只有意义上的联系，无需形式上的粘接。而英语重形合，两个或以上的句子之间往往要求通过连词、关系代词或关系副词连成一个意义与形式上珠联碧合的整体。受汉语影响，这种错误在中国英语学习者中普遍存在。虽然英语中不乏个别逗号句情况，但只是限于短句，而且有严格的规定。而《美国文学教程》中，这种现象比比皆是，每一章、每一节乃至每一页都能找到一个以上这种句子，而且存在的逗号句绝大多数都是毫无道理的。以下这些逗号句只是其中部分例子。

1.  In the middle of the fifteenth century the slave trade began, thousands of  
Africans were shipped as slaves to America where they were sold into captivity.（第5页第1-3行）

2.A population of 10,000 people was estimated in Massachusetts at the time when the  
book was published, the 1700 copies produced there allowed approximately one for  
each family.（第8页倒数第4-1行）

3.Among the early settlers at Massachusetts Bay, Simon Bradstreet proved successful  
as governor of the colony for ten years, he also represented as judge of
Massachusetts at the court of Charles II.（第11页第2-5行）

3.In 1565 they founded their first settlement in Florida, by the end of the  
sixteenth century they had established themselves in New Mexico.（第18页倒数第9-7行）

4.Although the significant proposal failed to gain sufficient support, it did much  
to inspire American people in the idea of union and encourage them to struggle for  
it, as John Adams said, “The revolution and union were gradually forming from the  
years 1760-1776.”（第20页第7-11行）这种由于引文不当造成的逗号句问题多次出现，限于篇幅不一一列举。

5.The legislatures in several colonies protested, the people in Virginia, New  
York, Massachusetts, and North Carolina even destroyed stamps and other  
property, compelled the stamp collectors to flee, and menaced the lives of the  
local royal governors.（第21页第20-24行）

6.The constitutions of these states stood in conflict with other in many aspects,  
the disorders that emerged due to the constitutional conflicts threatened the  
security of property in great areas, in addition to the chaotic financial conditions
and the popular aversion of taxes.（第26页第4-9行）除了逗号句问题，other一词存在用法不当问题。

7.And the power of such a literary style also found an outlet in America, it  
led American writers, including many of the outstanding of the period, to imitate  
the precision and clarity of the Pope’s heroic couplets as well as the elegance
and decorum of his expression.（第30页倒数第2行-第31页第4行）

8.The eighteenth century was an age of magnificent literary energies, the rapid  
growth of publishing provided a forum for contestants of all ranks.（第32页第2-4行）

9.It is obvious that Franklin made efforts to avoid the imaginative qualities  
of European Renaissance or romantic prose then popular among many of English  
and American authors, but this does not mean that his style was stereotyped, on  
the contrary, it was neither limited or pedestrian.（第46页倒数第7-3行）

10.The American government was a government of special interests, thus the  
different viewpoints toward the French Revolution revealed that the
politicians representing. the interests of different classes all made use of  
this occasion and foreign influence to obtain more advantages as well as interests.（第67页倒数第4行-第68页第1行）这句话除了两处逗号句错误，还存在搭配问题。能说obtain interests吗？

11.Originally belonging to Mexico, California clung tightly to the coast, with a  
meager population of twelve thousand people, among whom twelve hundred were
foreign residents, the Americans being the majority, its important  
geographical position attracted the Americans.（第69页第16-20行）

12.Even in the age when these events took place, many American men letters had  
treated this wresting of huge territory from backward Mexico as immoral
aggression, James Russell Lowell held that the South wanted these vast tracts of  
land just to have “bigger pens to cram slaves in.”（第69页倒数第8-3行）

13.Soon in 1810 France officially announced that it had abandoned its attacks, then  
it was only to Great Britain that the United States limited its intercourse.（第70页第17-19行）

14.The war dragged for two years, during which the American army once destroyed  
the public buildings at York (now Toronto), the British troops, in retaliation for  
the American destruction, fired Washington, the capital of the United States, and  
the White House.（第71页第4-8行）

15.A national literature was emerging, such great writers as Bryant, Irving, and
Cooper began to publish their great works.（第71页第28-30行）

16.The Southern slaveholders would not allow themselves to be defeated by the
election, early in February, 1861 the delegates of seven Southern states met
in Montgomery, Alabama to discuss their secession from the Union, formed  
the Confederate States of America, and elected Jefferson Davis its provisional  
President.（第114页第7-12行）

17.The typical Poe story is, in terms of its action, an allegory of dream-
experience, since the action almost always occurs in imagination, the characters  
are principles of faculties of Poe’s divided nature in stead of traditional  
distinct personalities, the process of the action correspond to the successive states  
of mind moving into sleep, and eventually the end of action is no other than the end
of the dream.（第129页第12-18行）

18.The rise of romanticism and the prevalence of Transcendentalism, along with  
the speedy development of politics, economy, and culture in American society,  
brought the flowering of American literature in the nineteenth century, many
important writers mushroomed and created their literary efforts to made the century  
the unprecedentedly fruitful in American literature.（第117页倒数第1行-118页第6行）这句话除了逗号句错误外，created their literary efforts中存在动宾搭配不当问题，to made  
the century中的made应改为动词原形make。
                           
五、不符历史事实

美国是一个联邦制国家，其基础是state（州）。虽然state与province（省）表示同一级行政单位，但出于历史考虑，美国的州是不能用province来表达的。而该教材在论及美国早期历史时，竟然多次使用province一词。这种脱离历史事实的做法是不足取的。如：

1.During the meeting a Committee of Correspondence was set up to communicate with  
other towns through the province.（第22页第10-13行）

2.Its fifty-one delegates, among whom Washington, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams
were included, drew up a declaration of colonial rights, in which they asserted  
that the province had “exclusive power” to legislate on their own affairs, subject
to a royal veto.（第23页第10-14行）
                             
六、其他问题

除了上述比较系统性的错误外，《美国文学教程》还存在其他方面的问题。这些问题虽然不是很普遍，但也不算少。以下是其中一些代表性的例子。

1.The Sketch Book, a collection of essays, sketches, and stories, including the  
immortal “Rip Van Winkle”, appeared serially in the years 1819 to 1820,  
securely established Irving’s reputation at home and abroad, and designated  
the beginning of American romanticism.（第85页第26-30行）这句话是典型的中式英语。汉语中，一句话可以有几个谓语动词，形成连动式或兼语式结构，但英语则没有这种结构。显然，
appear，establish和designate三个动词不是并列关系，后两个动词establish和designate是对appear所作的补充说明，应该使用现在分词形式，才符合英语表达习惯。另外，designate存在用词不当问题。

2.Poe’s great contribution to the development above, to offer a set of  
formulated principles in relation to the creation of American literature is,  
as mentioned above, to offer a set of formulated principles in relation to the  
creation of the work of art, moreover, to the criticism of literature.（第130页第21-25行）显然，这句话中主语部分的to offer a set of formulated principles in relation to
the creation of American literature 与谓语部分的to offer a set of formulated  
principles in relation to the creation of the work of art是粗心大意所造成的重复表述。

3.More and more working people, including escaped slaves, were inspired by the  
Homestead Act and the Emancipation Proclamation to devote themselves to the great
cause that was closely related their own interests and pursuit of a better life.
with the support and involvement of the people…（第115页第10-15行）这句话中该大写的with却使用了小写。

4.As good and evil always stand as a pair, the speedy development of the  
material civilization in American society was accompanied with various kinds
of corruption, When the Civil War was just over and the reconstruction was just on
its way…（第117页第8-11行）这句话中该小写的when却使用了大写。这种大小写不符合规范的情况不少。

5.His association of his own private rebellion with large social issues led to  
his refusal to pay the church taxes in 1838 because they were levied on all the
people alike, as for an “established” church, and also to his refusal to pay the
poll tax, which brought him a jail sentence for one night in 1846, because he
opposed to the Mexican War and he believed that the tax levied would be used to  
support the war.（第124页第4-10行）像这种结构笨拙的长句在教材中普遍存在。不知作者是为了显示水平之高还是因为对英语结构缺乏深刻认识？

6.His journals are now considered to be one of the longest life records ever  
composed, consisting Thoreau’s care fully preserved manuscripts and quotations from  
his favorite authors, his activities with friends, his description of animal life
and analysis of his own faults, and his speculation on social problems.（第124页倒数第4行-第125页第2行）这句话之所以归于其他错误，是因为consisting Thoreau’s care  
fully preserved manuscripts and quotations from his favorite authors部分不仅存在词语用法错误和语法错误，而且让人不知所云，莫名其妙。

7.Poe regards the short story, including those of detection, as a lower form  
than poetry, and “more appreciable by mass of mankind, so he tends to permit  
some measure of verisimilitude and a logical clarity of plot and idea in order to  
invite his readers, by hint upon hint, to play detective themselves.（第129页倒数第6-1行）这句话只有一个引号，不知引用内容到哪里为止？这种标点符号随意使用的情况多次出现。
                             
结      语

写完这篇文章，笔者的心情是沉重的。事实上，本文所指出的错误，只不过是一些非常基本的错误。其他一些很难解释的高级问题，如语意重心不突出、结构层次不清、词语用法不地道等问题，教材中也大量存在。总之，从语言学习的角度来说，这本教材是不合格的。

一个令人值得深思的问题是，为什么这些错误经多次印刷后还一再出现？笔者以为，问题的关键是，现在学术界批评的风气还不够浓厚。忠言逆耳但利于行！笔者真心希望书评中多些真正的批评。惟有如此，教材的质量才能得到不断改进。

（胡荫桐、刘树森主编：《美国文学教程》。天津：南开大学出版社，1995年8月第1版，2006年7月第9次印刷。）

[感谢黄卫峰先生惠寄]


学术批评网（www.acriticism.com）首发 2007年3月10日