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美国著名非裔小说家、评论家约翰·埃德加·怀德曼(John Edgar Wideman),被西方评论界誉为是当代最出色最具才华的非裔作家之一。从一名匹兹堡的蓝领到获得罗兹奖学金进入牛津大学深造,而后成为衣阿华大学作家班的一员,怀德曼的写作生涯渐入佳境。他曾辗转任教于数所大学,目前就职于马萨诸塞大学。怀德曼先后创作了十三部小说、六本短篇小说集及部分非小说作品和散文。从他的作品问世以来,西方评论界给予了他相当高的赞誉。他的名字常常于一些文坛巨匠并列,诸如威廉福克纳、艾略特、詹姆士乔伊斯等,所受欢迎度可见一斑。他的作品以精辟的文字、鲜明的人物形象和独特的政治历史视角见长,涉及诸多题材。与其早期作品不同,自上世纪七十年代以来,怀德曼的中后期作品逐渐将视角转向种族矛盾、多族群的文化冲撞和人性异化问题上来,表达了其作为一个非裔作家的人文关怀及对人类未来走向的深层思索。《黄热病》是其同名短篇小说集《黄热病》中的首篇,取材于1793年美国费城的一场瘟疫,怀德曼以精妙的笔触带领读者通过不同视角,在真实与虚幻间游走,切身感受故事中人物的所见所闻所感,亲身参与到故事的重构中来。《黄热病》是一篇典型的怀德曼风格的作品,传统题材加之浓厚的后现代风格,使得这部短篇小说成为同类题材中的经典之作。
John Edgar Wideman, a famous African American novelist and critic, has been hailed by western critics as one of the best and most talented African-American writers of the time. From a Pittsburgh-based blue collar to a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, and later to become a member of the Iowa Writers’ Class, Adelaide’s writing career is getting better. He has taught at several universities and currently works at the University of Massachusetts. Whiteman has produced thirteen novels, six short stories and some non-fiction works and essays. Since the publication of his works, the western critics have given him a very high praise. His name is often tied to some of the great literary world, such as William Faulkner, Eliot, James Joyce, etc., the popularity is evident. His works are well-versed in writing, distinctive characters and unique political and historical perspectives. They cover many topics. Different from his early works, since the 1970s, Whiteman’s works in the mid-and late stages have gradually shifted their perspectives to issues of ethnic conflicts, cultural clashes and human-alienation in many ethnic groups and expressed his humanistic concern as an Afro-American writer and Deep Thinking on the Future of Mankind. Yellow fever is the first of its kind in the short story collection “Yellow Fever,” drawn from a plague in Philadelphia, the United States of America in 1793. Whiteman uses subtle brushstrokes to lead readers through different perspectives and between real and imaginary Walk, feel the story of the personal experience of what people feel, personally involved in the reconstruction of the story. “Yellow fever” is a typical work of the Isle of Man style, combined with traditional themes and a strong post-modern style, making this short story become a classic of similar themes.