This essay challenges the myth of Hannibal Lecter, in Demme’s The Silence of the Lambs, as an enigmatic and unclassifiable character. Lecter’s enigma is generated through a largely unexplored process of de-characterization, i.e. by recurrently presenting him through the speech of other characters who describe him as unknowable. After considering Lecter’s case against the background of well-known literary unknowabilities, a deductive phenomenological exploration of Lecter’s de-characterization is carried out with the assistance of tools from the disciplines of personality and social psychology, and supported by empirical evidence from those fields. The demystifying of Lecter’s unreadability does not entail a debasement of the film or the character. On the contrary, Lecter’s de-characterization, albeit a form of narrative manipulation, is viewed as responsible for much of the film’s impact and success. It produces sensitivity-boosting effects; it mediates the indirect characterization of the other characters; and it engages the spectators’ self-image thus contributing importantly to the enjoyment and appreciation of the film.

中文翻译：

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“他们没有他的名字的名字”：汉尼拔·莱克特的战略去个性化

本文以Demme的《沉默的羔羊》中的汉尼拔·莱克特（Hannibal Lecter）的神话作为一个神秘而无法分类的人物，对这一挑战提出了挑战。莱克特的谜团是通过很大程度上未探索的反特征化过程产生的，即通过其他人将他描述为不可知的讲话反复介绍他。在以众所周知的文学不可知性为背景考虑莱克特的案例之后，在人格和社会心理学学科的工具的帮助下，对莱克特的非特征化进行了演绎的现象学探索，并得到了来自这些领域的经验证据的支持。对莱克特不可读取性的神秘化并不意味着电影或角色的贬低。相反，莱克特（Lecter）的非表征，尽管是一种叙事操纵形式，被认为是电影的大部分影响力和成功的原因。产生增强灵敏度的效果；它介导其他字符的间接表征；它吸引了观众的自我形象，从而为电影的欣赏和欣赏做出了重要贡献。