Roger Rosenblatt’s book Black Fiction, in attempting to apply literary rather than sociopolitical criteria to its subject, successfully alters the approach taken by most previous studies. As Rosenblatt notes, criticism of Black writing has often served as a pretext for expounding on Black history. Addison Gayle’s recent work, for example, judges the value of Black fiction by overtly political standards, rating each work according to the notions of Black identity which it propounds.

Although fiction assuredly springs from political circumstances, its authors react to those circumstances in ways other than ideological, and talking about novels and stories primarily as instruments of ideology circumvents much of the fictional enterprise. Rosenblatt’s literary analysis discloses affinities and connections among works of Black fiction which solely political studies have overlooked or ignored.

Writing acceptable criticism of Black fiction, however, presupposes giving satisfactory answers to a number of questions. First of all, is there a sufficient reason, other than the facial identity of the authors, to group together works by Black authors? Second, how does Black fiction make itself distinct from other modern fiction with which it is largely contemporaneous? Rosenblatt shows that Black fiction constitutes a distinct body of writing that has an identifiable, coherent literary tradition. Looking at novels written by Black over the last eighty years, he discovers recurring concerns and designs independent of chronology. These structures are thematic, and they spring, not surprisingly, from the central fact that the Black characters in these novels exist in a predominantly white culture, whether they try to conform to that culture or rebel against it.

Black Fiction does leave some aesthetic questions open. Rosenblatt’s thematic analysis permits considerable objectivity; he even explicitly states that it is not his intention to judge the merit of the various works — yet his reluctance seems misplaced, especially since an attempt to appraise might have led to interesting results. For instance, some of the novels appear to be structurally diffuse. Is this a defect, or are the authors working out of, or trying to forge, a different kind of aesthetic? In addition, the style of some Black novels, like Jean Toomer’s Cane, verges on expressionism or surrealism; does this technique provide a counterpoint to the prevalent theme that portrays the fate against which Black heroes are pitted, a theme usually conveyed by more naturalistic modes of expression?

In spite of such omissions, what Rosenblatt does include in his discussion makes for an astute and worthwhile study. Black Fiction surveys a wide variety of novels, bringing to our attention in the process some fascinating and little-known works like James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Its argument is tightly constructed, and its forthright, lucid style exemplifies levelheaded and penetrating criticism.

1. The author of the text is primarily concerned with

[A] evaluating the soundness of a work of criticism.

[B] comparing various critical approaches to a subject.

[C] discussing the limitations of a particular kind of criticism.

[D] summarizing the major points made in a work of criticism.

2. The author of the text believes that Black Fiction would have been improved had Rosenblatt

[A] evaluated more carefully the ideological and historical aspects of Black fiction.

[B] attempted to be more objective in his approach to novels and stories by Black authors.

[C] explored in greater detail the recurrent thematic concerns of Black fiction throughout its history.

[D] assessed the relative literary merit of the novels he analyzes thematically.

3. The author’s discussion of Black Fiction can be best described as

[A] pedantic and contentious.

[B] critical but admiring.

[C] ironic and deprecating.

[D] argumentative but unfocused.

4. The author of the text employs all of the following in the discussion of Rosenblatt’s book EXCEPT:

[A] rhetorical questions.

[B] specific examples.

[C] comparison and contrast.

[D] definition of terms.

5. The author of the text refers to James Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an ExColored Man most probably in order to

[A] point out affinities between Rosenblatt’s method of thematic analysis and earlier criticism.

[B] clarify the point about expressionistic style made earlier in the passage.

[C] qualify the assessment of Rosenblatt’s book made in the first paragraph of the passage.

[D] give a specific example of one of the accomplishments of Rosenblatt’s work.

　　[答案与考点解析]

1. 【答案】A

【考点解析】这是一道中心主旨题。通过阅读本文各段尤其是首段第一句和尾段第一句，我们可以推断出本题的正确选项应该是突出“evaluating”(评价)一词的选项A。考生在解题时一定要注意段落的中心主旨句，以及每句话所表达的内含和作用。

2. 【答案】D

【考点解析】这是一道审题定位与反推题。从本题题干中的“would have been improved”可推断出考生要在原文中寻找到谈论某一方面“不足”的地方。尾段首句的“such omissions”(这样的忽略)暗示本题的答案信息来源应该在倒数第二段。通过仔细阅读和理解倒数第二段，可将本题的答案信息来源确定在倒数第二段的第二句。根据倒数第二段第二句的内容进行反推，就可得出本题的正确选项是D。考生在解题时一定要具备利用上下段之间的关系迅速审题定位的能力，更要具备反推即逆向思维的能力。

3. 【答案】B

【考点解析】这是一道归纳推导题。从本题的题干可以看出本题的答案信息来源不局限于某一段或某一句，而是涉及全文的从头至尾。但是只要抓住全文的中心主旨句就可以得出本题的正确答案B。本文的中心主旨句是第一段的首句和尾段的首句。考生在解题时一定要抓住中心主旨句，并且对它们所表达的内容要进行分析和归纳。

4. 【答案】D

【考点解析】这是一道写作手法题型。本题型旨在考察考生的语言基本功。这是一道较难的题目。本题A、B、C所涉及的内容可分别在第三段的第二、三句、第四段的第三句以及第一段的第三句里找到。第一段的第三句涉及B和C两个选项。选项D“definition of terms”(给词语下定义)在原文中没有涉及，故本选项是正确答案。考生在解题时一定要注意英文中常见的写作手段。

5. 【答案】D

【考点解析】这是一道例(举)证题。通过题干中的“Weldon Johnson’s Autobiography of an ExColored Man”可将本题的答案信息来源迅速确定在尾段的第二句，本句中的“like”(例如)一词暗示本题的正确选项应该是含有“specific example”的选项D。考生在解题时一定要注意原文中某些关键词的应用和理解。

[参考译文]

罗杰·罗森布莱特的著作《黑人小说》，试图运用文学的而不是社会政治的标准来研究黑人小说，这成功地改变了大多数早先研究的方法。如罗森布莱特所注意到的，黑人著作的评论经常被充当为一种阐述黑人历史的借口。例如，阿狄森·盖尔的最新著作，就用了公开的政治标准来判定黑人小说的价值，按照作品中所提出的黑人个体的各观念对每个作品进行评价。

虽然小说确实是源于政治环境，但作者反映这些环境的方法是非意识形态的，如把小说和故事的讨论作为意识形态的工具，则会忽视了许多小说的成就。罗森·布莱特对黑人文学的分析揭示了黑人小说著作间的密切关系和联系，而纯粹政治研究中忽视了这些联系。

然而写出为人所接受的黑人小说评论的前提是要对许多问题做出令人满意的回答。首先，除了这些作家的种族身份外，是否有充分的理由可将黑人作家的作品归于一类?其次，黑人小说如何将自己和其他现代小说分开?它们大半属于同一时代的作品。罗森布莱特的研究阐明了黑人小说已构成了一个与众不同的作品群体，它们具有可识别的、连贯的文学传统。着眼于最近八十年黑人创作的小说，罗森布莱特揭示了小说中与时代无关而反复出现的侧重点和布局。这些结构与主题相关，并不让人感到惊奇的是，它们源于这样一个中心事实，即小说中的黑人生存在一个白人文化支配的环境中，不管他们试图迎合这一文化还是反叛这一文化。

《黑人小说》确实对一些美学的问题没有给予回答，罗森布莱特的主题分析允许相当的客观性;他甚至直言，对各个作品的优劣判定不是他工作的意图——然而他的犹豫看起来是不合时宜的，尤其是因为尝试评定可能会导致一些有趣的结果。例如，一些小说所显示的结构散漫冗长。这是否是一个缺陷，或者是作者这样做是出于一种美学考虑，还是作者试图创造一种不同类的美学?另外，象金·图莫的《手杖》那样的黑人小说风格，近于表现主义和超现实主义;难道这个技巧只是用更自然主义的表现方式为表达流行的黑人英勇反抗命运的主题提供一个对应物吗?

尽管存在这些遗漏，罗森布莱特所做的包括他的讨论，已包括了足以构成精明而有价值的研究内容。《黑人小说》考察了广泛的小说，在此过程中我们的注意力被吸引到一些引人入胜但鲜为人知的作品上，如詹姆士·威尔顿·约翰逊的《一个曾是有色人的自传》。这本书的主题结构紧密，直率、明晰的风格例示了一种冷静而敏锐的文学评论。