川端康成的“一只胳膊”是作家晚年创作中饱受争议的作品,批评界对“一只胳膊”的批评一直是“唯美的”、“变态的”、“官能的”、“颓废的”,甚至是“反伦理道德”的观点占主导地位。本文借助文学伦理学批评方法对这部超现实主义小说进行了重新解读,由此认为,主人公对借来的“一只胳膊”心情是复杂的,既有顶礼膜拜又有怀疑反思,但他最终扔掉了借来的“一只胳膊”,把自己的胳膊重新安在身上,这一情节隐喻了半个世纪以来日本现代文化和文学创作所经历的伦理选择过程,是对身处自己固有传统中的日本作家在西方艺术强势影响下如何进行伦理选择以及伦理身份确认的反思与诘问。
"Kataude" is a controversial work written by Kawabata in his later years. It is often in- terpreted as "perverted," "luscious," "'decadent," "unethical," or even "'immoral." Taking the per- spective of ethical literary criticism, this study is to make a reinterpretation of this surrealist work. It is argued that the protagonist held a complicated, both adoring and reflective, attitude towards the borrowed "Kataude" (which means an arm). In the end, he abandoned the borrowed arm, and reinstalled his own to his body. This plot symbolizes the course of ethical choice of modem culture and modern literature of Japan over half a century. It is also a reflection and query of Japanese writers in old traditions on how to make an ethical choice and ethical identity confirmation under the strong influence of Western art.