| 摘要: | 西蒙波娃名言：「一個人之為女人，與其說是天生的，不如說是『形成』的。」克莉絲蒂娃亦曾以「過程中的主體」論證：主體的身分認同並非固定不變，而是在過程中不斷發生的。茱蒂絲巴特勒在其《性別困惑》指出：強調二元對立式的性別關係只會陷女性於隱身社會父權制度的箝制下無法脫身。上個世紀結構思想所強調之身分認同原生論述，在當代全球化概念風行而各種文化交流的強大衝擊中，已由身分認同情境論述所掩蓋。女性主義所強調的女性身分認同可以透過操作演示與過程展示而不斷變異，更彰顯主體自我的抉擇權，並使得這些論述在全球化衝破各種實體或虛構疆界的現西蒙波娃名言：「一個人之為女人，與其說是天生的，不如說是『形成』的。」克莉絲蒂娃亦曾以「過程中的主體」論證：主體的身分認同並非固定不變，而是在過程中不斷發生的。茱蒂絲巴特勒在其《性別困惑》指出：強調二元對立式的性別關係只會陷女性於隱身社會父權制度的箝制下無法脫身。上個世紀結構思想所強調之身分認同原生論述，在當代全球化概念風行而各種文化交流的強大衝擊中，已由身分認同情境論述所掩蓋。女性主義所強調的女性身分認同可以透過操作演示與過程展示而不斷變異，更彰顯主體自我的抉擇權，並使得這些論述在全球化衝破各種實體或虛構疆界的現實中一一得到印證。此外，在不同文化的接觸和交流中，因為文化認同的關係，在過程中難免會產生不可避免的衝突，而女性身處兩種文化磨合之間，如何在原生論述與情境變異的相互衝擊中，突破限縮做出另類選擇是本論文主要研究分析討論的主旨。本論文擬透過美國華裔女作家譚恩美二十一世紀初的名著《接骨師的女兒》，深入探討華美移民家庭的世代差異和衝突，其中以移民女性的身分認同建構為主要研究核心。
本論文概分四章。第一章為研究背景及譚恩美《接骨師的女兒》故事梗概。第二章為文獻回顧，主要介紹原生論與情境論概念以及如何運用於篇章分析。第三章為本論文主軸，以《接骨師的女兒》中三位女性的生命經驗歷程中，建構自我身分認同的轉折，探討父權制社會原生論述與自我開創後的情境論述對其抉擇之轉變影響。第四章則回顧前三章所論，總結本論文。
譚恩美小說中的女性，在不同階段的生命進程中，雖歷經苦難挫折而產生自我質疑與否定，但最終仍得以抗拒父權壓抑、而在不同情境中尋得自我、終能建構出新身分認同。
Simone de Beauvoir contended that “One is not born a woman, but rather becomes one.” Julia Kristeva emphasized that the subject cannot be fixed and the subject is not only split, but is also a “subject in process.” The subject is always in process because s/he is always developing. Judith Butler, in Gender Trouble (1990), argued that when women are confined to a specific and limited identity as reinforced in the binary view of gender relations, they are quintessentially trapped in the hidden patriarchal systems in society and lose the possibilities to form and choose their own individual identity. In last century, structuralism emphasized the fixed structure of gender relations as the primordialism does in grouping people with shared characteristics, origins or bodily structure (herein biological sex). Nevertheless, now in the global era, circumstantialism emerges as an option when the impact of globalization and cultural clashes of civilizations prevail in the world. Feminism theorists propose that resorting to performativity, women can reject the “biology as destiny” ideology and re-construct self-identity as they wish. That consequently allows more room for choice, difference, or resistance to the patriarchal confinement and restraints. In this thesis, I will be addressing my analysis and discussion that globalization as a trend has inevitably brought impact on identity construction, especially in societies composed of multiethnic groups. In different cultural contacts, conflicts are inexorable, because different cultural identities unavoidably result in clashes not only among races but also between genders during the process of contacts and exchange. The focus of the thesis is mainly on the identity construction of the three female protagonists of the three generations in Amy Tan’s best-known novel The Bonesetter’s Daughter.
The thesis is divided into four chapters. The first chapter is an introduction, composed of the background and the main idea of the thesis and a brief synopsis of Amy Tan’s The Bonesetter’s Daughter. Chapter Two is a literature review of the two major notions of the thesis, namely, primordialism and circumstantialism. Chapter Three is an analysis and discussion of the three female characters in The Bonesetter’s Daughter: Precious Aunties, LuLing, and Ruth, applying the ideas mentioned in the previous chapter. Last but not least, Chapter Four is a conclusion, which brings the three chapters into an end.
The female characters in Amy Tan’s writing experience plights in life but are able to resist the patriarchal oppression and construct new desired identities after self-denial, self-doubt, and self-repression. They manifest abilities to constitute what feminists exalt, that is, gender and desire are flexible and free-floating, not rigid and fixed. |
