Textual Selection
1、When, at the beginning of The Iliad/伊利亚特/-and Western literature-King Agamemnon steals Achilles' slave-girl/奴隶女人/, Briseis, the king tells the world's greatest warrior/战士勇士/ that he is doing so "to let you know that I am more powerful than you, and to teach others not to bandy words with me/跟我犟嘴/ openly defy/不服从，公然反抗/ their king"'. But literary scholar/文学家/ Jonathan Gottschall believes that the true focus of Homer's epic is not royal authority/皇家权威/, but royal genes/皇家基因，皇家遗传/.
2、Gottschall is one of a group of researchers/研究团队/, calling themselves literary Darwinists/文学达尔文主义者/, devoted to studying literature/文学/ using the concepts/概念/ of evolutionary/演化，进化/ biology and the empirical/以实验为依据的/, quantitative/量化的/ methods of the sciences. "Women in Homer/荷马史诗/ are not a proxy/代理人/ for status/显赫的地位/ and honour; says Gottschall. "At bottom/事实上/, the men in the stories are motivated/驱使/ by reproductive concerns/繁衍后代/. Every Homeric raid involves/荷马式的袭击/ killing the men and abducting/抢夺/ the women:' The violent world of the epics史诗中的残暴世界/, he says, reflects a society where men fought for scarce mates/少数的配偶/ and chieftains/首领/ had access to as many women as slaves/奴隶/ and concubines/宫女/. And he thinks that everything written/文学撰述/ since Homer is open to similar analysis.
3、Literary Darwinism is a mode of analysis; it's also a bit of/一些，少许/ a crusade/运动/, an attempt/试图/ to shake up/撼动/ literary criticism/文学评论/. "Literary theory requires a theory of human nature/人性本质/, because literature is shaped/形状/ by human motives/动机/ and cognitive biases/认知偏见/; says Joseph Carroll of the University of Missour/密苏里/, St Louis. The problem, say the literary Darwinists/文学达尔文主义者/, is that for the past few decades/过去几十年/ the humanities/人类，人性/ have, in the case of/如果发生/ critics/评论，批评/ deconstructing texts/解构文本时/, denied/否定了/ the need for a theory of human nature, asserting/坚持/ that the study of texts can be concerned/不安的/ with nothing outside those texts. Or else/要不/ they have been stuck on theories of human nature that are rooted in/使根深蒂固/ the subjective/主观的/ and the social.
4、Those influenced by Freudianism/洛伊德主义/, for example, might read a novel looking for hints/暗示提示/ of a child's sexual desire/性欲/ for its parent. A Marxist/马克思主义者/ would seek out economic and class/阶级/ conflicts/冲突/. Carroll has no truck with/不理/ this: "The theories up to/胜任/ this point have all had a little bit of the truth, but have also all been fundamentally/基本/ flawed/瑕疵/; he says. "None comes to terms with/对某事妥协/ the fundamental facts/基本事实/ of human evolution."
5、Literary darwinists believe that literature/文学/ reflects a universal/普遍一般/ human nature shaped by natural selection, and as a result/作为结果/, read texts in terms of /依据/animal concerns/关系/ such as mate choice/配偶选择/, relations between kin/亲属关系/, and social hierarchies/社会阶级/. Such a scientistic approach/方法，途径/ can meet with hostility/敌对/. "At one meeting of the Modern Languages Association/协会/, someone stood up and called me a proto-fascist/原始的法西斯/; says Nancy Easterlin, an expert in Romantic literature/罗马语系专家/ at the University of New Orleans/新奥尔良/, Louisiana.///伊丝特琳利用认知学的一些观点来分析华尔华滋（William Wordsworth ）《前奏》（the Prelude ）的母子关系。///
6、The tide/潮流/ may be turning, however. "The ideological resistance is crumbling pretty fast/意识型态上的抗拒，正快速瓦解/; says the British author Ian McEwan/麦克温/, who has used scientific ideas in several of his novels/科学的思想/. "Now things are spoken of that would have routinely/常规，惯常/ got you called a Nazi/纳粹/ a few years ago:' The English department/英语系/ at Texas A&M University/德州农工大学/, in College Station, has recently approved/批准/ a seminar/研讨会/ on literary Darwinism-the first university course on the subject, says Brett Cooke, the course leader and an expert in Russian literature/俄罗斯文学课程领导与专家/.
7、So what does it mean to read literature through a Darwinian lens/隐形眼镜/? At one level/在某个层面/, it can seem remarkably obvious/非常明显/. In their recent book Madame Bovary's Ovaries3/包法利夫人的卵巢/, evolutionary psychologists David and Nanelle Barash/进化心理学家戴维和那尼尔．巴拉许/ argue/争论/ that a Darwinian understanding of female mate choice/女性择偶/ shows why the eponymous adulteress/知名奸妇/ takes lovers/偷情对象/ who are more attractive and accomplished/教养/ than her mediocre husband/平庸的丈夫/. This may sound crass/愚笨粗糙/, but Carroll argues that the approach/方法途径/ is capable of/有能力../ subtlety/微妙/. A Darwinian analysis of Jane Austen's/珍妮奥斯汀/ Pride and Prejudice/傲慢与偏见/, he says, goes beyond/走出，超越/
