描写文中主位推进模式的运用

描写经常出现在记叙文中，有人物描写和环境描写两种。我们在这里重点讨论人物描写的特点。描写人物时应注重静态和动态的外貌描写。描写人物的静态外貌如同画家画画、摄影师拍照一般，需描写人物的容貌、身材、服饰、年龄以及性别等。下面以《一块牛排》为例，分析美国作家杰克·伦敦如何以慢镜头特写、工笔白描的手法（showing）层层递进地刻画汤姆·金的硬汉形象。

He (T1) sat down by the window on a rickety chair that protested under his weight, and quite mechanically he (T2) put his pipe in his mouth and dipped into the side pocket of his coat. The absence of any tobacco (T3) made him aware of his action, and with a frown for his forgetfulness (T4) he put the pipe away. His movements (T5) were slow, almost clumsy, as though he were burdened by the heavy weight of his muscles. He (T6) was a solidbodied, stolid-looking man, and his appearance (T7) did not suffer from being over prepossessing. His rough clothes (T8) were old and shapeless. The uppers of his shoes (T9) were too weak to carry the heavy resoling that was itself of no recent date. And his cotton shirt, a cheap, two-shilling affair (T10), showed a frayed collar and ineradicable paint stains.

(A New English Course, Book 3, p88)

上段的主位推进模式的分析如下：

T1—R1

T2＝T1—R2

T3—R3＝T1

T4—R4＝T1

T5—R5＝T1

T6＝T1—R6

T7＝R6—R7

T8＝T7—R8

T9＝T7—R9

T10＝T7—R10

在本段中，T1＝T2＝T5＝T6，T7＝T8＝T9＝T10，属于平行结构的主位推进模式。文章以第三人称he描写了汤姆·金迟缓的动作，使人物的形象立体化，刻画出的人物性格能够感染读者；R3＝R4＝R5＝T1属于交叉型模式，描写了这位曾经叱咤于职业拳击赛场的拳手老年穷困潦倒的穿着：“rough”“old and shapeless clothes”“old-fashioned”“weak shoes”“cheap cotton shirt with a frayed collar and ineradicable paint stains”，勾画出19世纪末美国竞争激烈、新旧事物迅速更替的社会形态下形象的产物，反映了物竞天择、适者生存的残酷现实。

紧接着杰克·伦敦还对汤姆·金的外貌做了描述，加深了读者对人物的印象。

But it (T1) was Tom King’s face that advertised him unmistakably for what he was. It (T2) was the face of a typical prizefighter; of one (T3) who had put in long years of service in the squared ring and by that means, developed and emphasized all the marks of the fighting beast. It (T4) was distinctly a threatening appearance, and that no feature of it might escape notice, it was clean-shaven. The lips (T5) were shapeless and made his mouth harsh like a deep cut in his face. The jaw (T6) was aggressive, brutal, and heavy. The eyes, slow of movement and heavy-lidded (T7), were almost expressionless under the shaggy brows. Sheer animal that he was, the eyes (T8) were the most animal-like feature about him. They (T9) were sleepy, lionlike—the eyes of a fighting animal. The forehead (T10) slanted quickly back to the hair, which, clipped close, showed every swelling of an evil-looking head. A nose (T11), twice broken and molded variously by countless blows, and a cauliflower ear (T12), permanently swollen and distorted to twice its size, completed his adornment, while the beard (T13), fresh-shaven as it was, sprouted in the skin and gave the face a blue-black stain.

(A New English Course, Book 3, p88)

杰克·伦敦运用T1＝T2＝T4平行主位推进模式从汤姆·金外貌的总体印象写起；用R3＝R2 集中型模式描写了汤姆·金多年参加拳击比赛后伤痕累累似猛兽般狰狞的脸；继而用T5＝T6＝T7平型模式描写了拳击手脸部的突出特征；用T7＝T8＝T9平行推进特点特写了他的眼睛，最后紧紧抓住他与众不同的前额、鼻子和耳朵（T10＝T11＝T12＝T13），运用神奇的比喻，描绘出极具拳击手职业特点的五官，即令人心酸的错位、变形，使我们清晰地看出职业、岁月在他的脸上留下的刻骨铭心的印迹，读来不禁潸然泪下。