The Symbolic Meaning of the Little Prince’s Journey---开题报告

一、文献综述

It has been more than half-a-century years since the earliest research on Symbolism and Philosophy of The Little Prince.

Jean· Mor(1914) identified the Symbolism as a literary movement. Symbolism in the visual arts was further defined by Albert Aurier as the 'painting of ideas' ('Les Symbolistes', Rev. Enc., 1 April 1952). Its complex aesthetic was a mix of Platonic-inspired philosophy, mystical and occult doctrines, psychology, linguistics, science, political theory and such aesthetic issues as the relationship between abstraction and representation.In his article , he trys to seek the symbolic meaning of The Little Prince from three factors : the overall symbols,the imageries’ symbols and the relationship between the comcrete symbolic images.         

While many Symbolists reacted against the materialism of 19th-century science and its implications, others sought to reconcile modern science with spiritual traditions. Ideas based on the rise of scientific psychology with its emphasis on individual freedom and the great interest in the occult, together with such practices as hypnosis, opened up a realm of psychic experience, which promised access to important realms of knowledge. Symbolism stressed feeling and evocation over definition and fact and emphasized the power of suggestion. 

St. Phan Mallarm(1967) wrote in 1981, "To name an object is to suppress three-fourths of the enjoyment of the poem that comes from the delight of divining little by little; to suggest it, there is the dream. It was felt that empirical science left no room for the spirit; however, psychological theory and occult doctrines explained perception and cognition in The Little Prince as symbolic processes and indicated a spiritual path to understanding. These spiritual insights were obtained via intuition, fantasy, imagination and such subjective and irrational experiences as dreams, visions, hypnotism and alchemy. The realm of the irrational was approached through a variety of means, including drugs and such popular synthetic religious and spiritualist movements as theosophy and anthroposophy and the esoteric ideas of Eliphas Baudelaire(1975)'s lines from his poem Correspondance illustrate the belief in the connection between nature and the soul: 'Nature is a temple of living pillars where often words emerge, confused and dim; and man goes through this forest, with familiar eyes of symbols always watching him." All these notions were rooted in The Little Prince and were revived later.

Andrew G.Van Melsen(1961) pointed out that philosophy is a general exposition of the ultimate concepts, meanings and values of the things of the universe, by a resort to their final causes which range beyond the reach of the senses. It becomes possible for philosophy to concern itself with metaphysical essences by resting on the strong foundation of the testimony given by sages to deep meditation and realisation. Hence the source as well as the aim of philosophy is direct experience, non-mediate, supersensory and super-logical. All knowledge that we ordinarily obtain in this world is mediate, for it requires the operation of the triune process of the knower, knowledge and the known. By this method of knowing it is not possible for us to acquire an unshakable knowledge of reality, for mediacy in knowledge does not enjoy the characteristics of permanency. The transitory nature of mediate knowledge affects the whole world of science, for this latter is sense-bound. There are certain hypothetical conceptions and principles which are absolutely necessary for obtaining scientific knowledge, using the word science in the sense in which it is understood by scientists today, and these are the notions and concepts of the existence of an extended space, of a flowing time and of the presence of material objects outside consciousness. In other words, science is a coordinated and systematised knowledge of the contents of the world as it is observed through the physical senses of man. We need not point out here that science lays too much trust in the validity of sense-perception and thus gets vitiated by the gross limitations to which the senses are obviously subject.

Mark Fisher(1964) carried out Philosophy of life in The Little Prince is a necessary means for the possession of the higher knowledge of the Self. But, if it is defined as process of the function of the intellect, we have to note that it is not an always the sole means; for philosophy in Swami Sivananda, as in Plato, Plotinus and Spinoza, makes its appeal not merely to the intellect of man, but to the heart and the feeling as well. It is not enough to understand the teachings of philosophy, it is necessary also to feel them in the depths of one’s heart. Feeling, at least in certain respects, surpasses understanding, albeit that feeling is often strengthened by understanding. Philosophy is an intensely practical science. “Philosophy has its roots in the practical needs of man. Man wants to know about transcendental matters when he is in a reflective state. There is an urge within him to know about the secret of death, the secret of immortality, the nature of the soul, the creator and the world.” 

He also said ,“Philosophy is the self-expression of the growing spirit in man like the thinking of the pilot in The Little Prince . Philosophers are its voice”. The Vedanta is the general term to such a philosophy of wise adjustment of value based on an undeluded perception of Reality. “One must be a practical Vedantin. Mere theorising and lecturing is only intellectual gymnastics. This will not suffice. If the Vedanta, is not practicable, no theory is of any value. One must put the Vedanta into daily practice, in every action that one does. The Vedanta teaches the oneness or unity of the Self. One must radiate love to one and all. The spirit of the Vedanta must be ingrained in one’s cells or tissues, veins, nerves and bones. It must become part and parcel of one’s nature. One must think of unity, speak of unity, and act in unity” . Philosophy in this sense ought to become the principal occupation of enlightened life. All other pursuits of man should stem from the force of this essential vocation of human intelligence.

Other scholars also advanced their opinions on the aspects like "The Little Prince has a series of philosophy thought with its beautiful poetic writing "said by Andrew Molovau(1945),a French writer. However, seldom people combines the Symbolism and Philosophy together to analysis this world-famous book.

二、^范文提纲

I. Introduction

II. Introduction to the Fairy Tale

2.1 Introduction to The Little Prince

2.2 Introduction to the Little Prince's Journey

III. Different Kinds of the Symbolic Meaning

3.1 The Symbols of the Little Prince and Inhabitants.

3.1.1 The Little Prince: the Symbol of the Childhood

3.1.2 The Inhabitants on the First Six Asteroids: Kaleidoscope of the Grown-ups

3.2 The Symbols of the Animals and Plants

3.3 The Other Symbols

IV. The Symbolic Meaning of the Little Prince’s Journey

4.1 A Surface Sense of the Little Prince’s Journey ---A Satire to the Grown-ups

4.2 A Deep Sense of the Little Prince’s Journey ---Escape from and Return to Love

4.2.1 Escape from His Flower

4.2.2 Journey

4.2.3 Apperception---Tamed

4.2.4 Return to Love

V. Conclusion

三、参考文献

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