谁是真正的窃贼？–解读小说《窃贼》的题目内涵 Who is the Real Theft? :Reading the Titles Implications of the Story “The Theft”开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述）

as a short story writer, katherine anne porter enjoys high prestige in american literature mainly for her short stories. the theft is involved in katherine anne porter’s second short story collection, flowering judas and other stories (1935). usually critics analyze this story from the perspectives of the female character “she” and the symbolic meanings of the purse. as the most important symbol in the story, the purse assumes relationships between the “haves” and “have-nots”, between men and women, between two women, and between ideals and reality. during the great depression in the 1930s, poverty was widespread. the heroine’s purse is a main clue which represents all her physical property. at the same time, everyone’s mental status is disillusioned at the mercy of social materialism. moreover, the heroine’s self-consciousness is aroused when her purse is stolen. therefore, reading the title’s implications is the key to better understanding the whole story’s theme. that is to say, the janitress and three men in the story are thefts who steal the heroine’s physical property. besides, the heroine herself is also a theft who has no self-consciousness.

in the western literary circle, studies and researches on katherine anne porter were expanded in the 1960s. critics mainly focus on the aspects of the themes of her works, on her skilled narrative structures and on her southern background. in china, studies on porter did not appear until the year 1981 and critics have made a systematic research on porter since then. to be more specific, most papers like 凯瑟琳·安·波特创作简论(2001) and 凯瑟琳·安·波特《偷窃》中的女权主义思想（2008）are about the symbolism in porter’s stories, women’s awareness in her miranda stories and her religious thoughts. however, as the paper 20年来国内凯瑟琳·安· 波特研究综述 points out, researchers should conduct further studies on porter’s paradoxical sense to her reminiscent southern land, the relationship between female consciousness and feminism, and especially the comparison with other female writers contemporarily.

as one of porter’s remarkably appealing short stories, the theft attaches great importance to the female consciousness which is reflected in the paper 论《偷窃》中的女性主义立场(2008). however, less attention has been paid to the analysis of who the real theft is--whether only the janitress herself or all the other people in the story, and what is really stolen. furthermore, based on the beautiful purse, the relations of the change of the heroine’s inner world to other characters like camilo, roger, bill and the janitress are worth studying too. in this case, i try to make the study on the story the theft from the perspective of its title’s implications, bringing more valuable insights into the understanding of porter’s short stories. moreover, to support the study, i will not only analyze the heroine’s characteristics, but also intend to reveal what actually leads a man to be a theft. therefore, it is rather necessary to read the title’s implications carefully.

2. 研究的基本内容与方案

this paper consists of four parts, aiming at analyzing human nature of the characters in the story, especially the journey of discovering self-consciousness of the heroine so as to examine the awakening of the heroine with both material and spiritual crises. referential materials and appreciations of the environment, images and characters in the story are basically used to analyze the story. the first chapter is the brief introduction to katherine anne porter, her story the theft and literature review. chapter two points out the thefts who steal the heroine’s physical property with a detailed analysis of the heroine’s memory. chapter three explores the real theft who steals the heroine’s spiritual property. by analyzing the heroine’s response to her stolen purse, i intend to reveal her suppressed attitude toward life. moreover, it is her suppressed attitude toward life that leads to the loss of her self-consciousness. the final chapter summarizes the elements that make a man be a theft and the influence of physical and spiritual crises on a man.

outline

3. 研究计划与安排

before 20th january : settlement of the title

before 20th march: submission of the outline

before 25th april : submission of the first draft

4. 参考文献（12篇以上）