美国“后种族时代”话语的建构与解构——从保罗·贝蒂《出卖》的讽刺艺术窥探当代美国的种族问题
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摘要
美国的种族主义,正如一些评论家所认为的,并未随着奴隶制和吉姆·克劳种族隔离的废止而终结,而是被"新种族主义"取代,"后种族时代"的美国处在一种黑白种族混合却不平等的状态。荣获2016年曼布克奖、美国黑人讽刺作家保罗·贝蒂的小说《出卖》凭借独特的讽刺艺术审视了"后种族时代"美国的黑人生活现状和种族关系问题。小说通过创造幽默和荒诞的虚构想象,揭露了当代美国根深蒂固的种族偏见,拆穿了"后种族时代"权力话语宣称的种族平等的虚假幻象;又通过建构对历史的批判性记忆,重塑了被消解的黑人种族意识,这对解构"新种族主义"霸权体系,从而实现真正意义上的种族平等具有一定的启发意义。
According to some critics, the demise of slavery and the abolition of Jim Crow Laws have not buried racism in America. Instead, the so-called " post-racial" America is confronted with an " integrate but unequal" state, which exemplifies the rise and expansion of " New Racism". The Sellout, a novel by the black American satirist Paul Beatty and awarded The Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2016, meditates on the current situation of black Americans as well as racial issues in post-racial America in a satirical way. By means of humor and absurd fictionalization, The Sellout exposes the embedded racism in contemporary America and disillusions the myth of racial equality that has been propagated by " post-racial " discourse. Meanwhile, it rehabilitates black Americans' racial consciousness through its critical memory of history, which suggests the possibility to dissolve the hegemony of New Racism and achieve the racial equality in a real sense as well.
According to some critics, the demise of slavery and the abolition of Jim Crow Laws have not buried racism in America. Instead, the so-called " post-racial" America is confronted with an " integrate but unequal" state, which exemplifies the rise and expansion of " New Racism". The Sellout, a novel by the black American satirist Paul Beatty and awarded The Man Booker Prize for Fiction in 2016, meditates on the current situation of black Americans as well as racial issues in post-racial America in a satirical way. By means of humor and absurd fictionalization, The Sellout exposes the embedded racism in contemporary America and disillusions the myth of racial equality that has been propagated by " post-racial " discourse. Meanwhile, it rehabilitates black Americans' racial consciousness through its critical memory of history, which suggests the possibility to dissolve the hegemony of New Racism and achieve the racial equality in a real sense as well.
引文
(1)本文同时使用了“美国黑人”和“非裔美国人”两种称谓,两者在本文没有指代区分。
(2)例如,近年来,伴随着美国多地频发的白人警察枪杀黑人事件,指控白人警察种族歧视的“黑人命贵”(Black Lives Matter)的抗议活动愈演愈烈,进而引发一些右翼政客领导的白人抵制运动,作为总统候选人的特朗普宣称“每个生命都珍贵”(All Lives Matter),种族问题也成为2016年总统大选的争议焦点。
(3)参见Jamie Bullen,“Man Booker Prize 2016:US Author Paul Beatty Wins with The Sellout,”Evening Standard,Oct.25,2016.
(1)参见Ron Charles,“Paul Beatty Wins the Man Booker Prize,”Washington Post,Oct.26,2016.
(2)参见John Williams,“Paul Beatty,Author of The Sellout,on Finding Humor in Issues of Race,”New York Times,March 3,2015.
(3)前三部分别是The White Boy Shuffle(1996)、Tuff(2000)和Slumberland(2008)。
(4)本文的中译文均为笔者自译,此处翻译借用的是dickens的拉丁词源,即指“魔鬼”的委婉语。
(5)Gilbert Cannan,Satire,London:Folcroft,1974,p.13.
(6)Sebastian Fett,The Treatment of Racism in the African American Novel of Satire,Dissertation,University of Trier,2008,p.37.
(1)William Schechter,The History of Negro Humor in America,New York:Fleet,1970,p.26.
(2)Richard Bridgman,“Satires Changing Target,”College Composition and Communication,Vol.16,No.2,1965,p.86.
(3)Paul Beatty,The Sellout,London:Oneworld Publications,2016,p.3.
(4)幽默(humor)与讽刺(satire)是两个不同的概念,但通常认为讽刺作为一种艺术表现包含了幽默、反讽、戏仿等具体技巧。
(5)另两大理论分别是优越论(superiority theory)和释放论(relief theory),前者的代表人物霍布斯认为笑是突然意识到自己比别人优越的表现,后者的代表人物弗洛伊德认为调侃和发笑是释放个人压抑感的一种方式。
(6)James Beattie,“An Essay on Laughter and Ludicrous Composition,”in The Philosophical and Critical Works,Vol.1,Hildesheim:George Olms,1975,p.600.
(7)Immanuel Kant,Critique of Judgment,trans.by J.H.Berhard,New York:Hafner,1973,p.177.
(1)Dexter B.Gordon,“Humor in African American Discourse:Speaking of Oppression,”Journal of Black Studies,Vol.29,No.2,1998,p.256.
(2)Beatty,The Sellout,p.76.
(3)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.77,163,203.
(4)Frederick Kiley and J.M.Shuttleworth,eds.,Satire from Aesop to Buchwald,New York:The Odyssey Press,1971,p.479.
(5)Darryl Dickson-Carr,African American Satire:The Sacredly Profane Novel,Columbia:University of Missouri Press,2001,p.16.
(6)Linda Hutcheon,A Poetics of Postmodernism:History,Theory,Fiction,New York:Routledge,1988,p.3.
(1)以上引文参见Dickson-Carr,African American Satire,p.32.
(2)Eduardo Bonilla-Silva,“The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind,‘Post-Racial’America,”American Behavioral Scientist,Vol.59,No.2,2015,p.1359.
(3)以上引文参见Eduardo Bonilla-Silva,“Racial Attitudes or Racial Ideology?An Alternative Paradigm for Examining ActorsRacial Views,”Journal of Political Ideologies,Vol.8,No.1,2003,pp.67-68.
(4)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.3,19,17,118,208.
(5)参见Roy L.Brooks,“Making the Case for Atonement in Post-Racial America,”The Journal of Gender,Race&Justice,Vol.14,2011,pp.668-670.
(6)参见Bonilla-Silva,“The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind,‘Post-Racial’America,”pp.1362-1363.
(1)参见Brooks,“Making the Case for Atonement in Post-Racial America,”p.673.
(2)美国学界对于“后种族时代”概念的定义和内涵一直存有争议,如“后种族时代一词不仅是有问题、令人困惑的,甚至在语法上也是错误的”(参见Amina Gautier,“On Post-Racial America in the Age of Obama,”Daedalus,Vol.140,No.1,2011,p.93),“后种族时代的确切起始时间是很难界定的,或许是1964年《公民权利法案》得以通过,或是1967年瑟古德·马歇尔(Thurgood Marshall)成为联邦最高法院的第一位非裔美国大法官,再或是奥巴马当选美国总统”(参见Michael Schaub,“The Sellout Is a Scorchingly Funny Satire on‘Post-Racial’America,”NPR,March 2,2015)。但概括而言,“后种族社会”的核心思想是指“一个种族概念不再重要的社会”(参见Brooks,“Making the Case for Atonement in Post-Racial America,”p.665)。
(3)Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Victor Ray,“When Whites Love a Black Leader:Race Matters in Obamerica,”Journal of African American Studies,No.13,2009,pp.180-181.
(4)Brooks,“Making the Case for Atonement in Post-Racial America,”p.666.
(5)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.167-168,94,260.
(6)Bonilla-Silva,“Racial Attitudes or Racial Ideology?An Alternative Paradigm for Examining ActorsRacial Views,”p.79.
(7)Bonilla-Silva,“Racial Attitudes or Racial Ideology?An Alternative Paradigm for Examining ActorsRacial Views,”p.67.
(1)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.95,217,98.
(2)以上引文参见Lisa Guerrero,“Can I Live?Contemporary Black Satire and the State of Postmodern Double Consciousness,”Studies in American Humor,Vol.2,No.2,2016,p.269.
(3)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.40,273.
(4)这篇文章主要从心理学和社会学角度研究黑人身份建构,被认为是“成为黑人”(Nigrescence)模型的奠基之作,而后克罗斯对该文的主要观点进行了完善,并于1991年出版了更加全面系统描述黑人身份的作品《黑色的阴影:非裔美国人身份的多样性》(Shades of Black:Diversity in African-American Identity)。
(5)William E.Cross,Jr,.“The Negro-to-Black Conversion Experience,”Black World,Vol.20,1971,p.26.
(6)Bonilla-Silva,“The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind,‘Post-Racial’America,”p.1368.
(1)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.214,274.
(2)Houston A.Baker,Jr,.“Critical Memory and the Black Public Sphere,”in The Black Public Sphere Collective,ed.,The Black Public Sphere,Chicago:University of Chicago Press,1995,p.7.
(3)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.115,163.
(4)Baker,“Critical Memory and the Black Public Sphere,”p.7.
(5)Hutcheon,A Poetics of Postmodernism,pp.4-5.
(6)Jean Baudrillard,Simulacra and Simulation,trans.by Sheila Faria Glaser,Ann Arbor:University of Michigan Press,1994,p.10.
(7)“President Obama Delivered His Farewell Speech Tuesday in Chicago,”Los Angeles Times,Jan.10,2017.
(1)参见Chris Jackson,“Our Thing:An Interview with Paul Beatty,”The Paris Review,May 7,2015.
(2)例如,近年来,伴随着美国多地频发的白人警察枪杀黑人事件,指控白人警察种族歧视的“黑人命贵”(Black Lives Matter)的抗议活动愈演愈烈,进而引发一些右翼政客领导的白人抵制运动,作为总统候选人的特朗普宣称“每个生命都珍贵”(All Lives Matter),种族问题也成为2016年总统大选的争议焦点。
(3)参见Jamie Bullen,“Man Booker Prize 2016:US Author Paul Beatty Wins with The Sellout,”Evening Standard,Oct.25,2016.
(1)参见Ron Charles,“Paul Beatty Wins the Man Booker Prize,”Washington Post,Oct.26,2016.
(2)参见John Williams,“Paul Beatty,Author of The Sellout,on Finding Humor in Issues of Race,”New York Times,March 3,2015.
(3)前三部分别是The White Boy Shuffle(1996)、Tuff(2000)和Slumberland(2008)。
(4)本文的中译文均为笔者自译,此处翻译借用的是dickens的拉丁词源,即指“魔鬼”的委婉语。
(5)Gilbert Cannan,Satire,London:Folcroft,1974,p.13.
(6)Sebastian Fett,The Treatment of Racism in the African American Novel of Satire,Dissertation,University of Trier,2008,p.37.
(1)William Schechter,The History of Negro Humor in America,New York:Fleet,1970,p.26.
(2)Richard Bridgman,“Satires Changing Target,”College Composition and Communication,Vol.16,No.2,1965,p.86.
(3)Paul Beatty,The Sellout,London:Oneworld Publications,2016,p.3.
(4)幽默(humor)与讽刺(satire)是两个不同的概念,但通常认为讽刺作为一种艺术表现包含了幽默、反讽、戏仿等具体技巧。
(5)另两大理论分别是优越论(superiority theory)和释放论(relief theory),前者的代表人物霍布斯认为笑是突然意识到自己比别人优越的表现,后者的代表人物弗洛伊德认为调侃和发笑是释放个人压抑感的一种方式。
(6)James Beattie,“An Essay on Laughter and Ludicrous Composition,”in The Philosophical and Critical Works,Vol.1,Hildesheim:George Olms,1975,p.600.
(7)Immanuel Kant,Critique of Judgment,trans.by J.H.Berhard,New York:Hafner,1973,p.177.
(1)Dexter B.Gordon,“Humor in African American Discourse:Speaking of Oppression,”Journal of Black Studies,Vol.29,No.2,1998,p.256.
(2)Beatty,The Sellout,p.76.
(3)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.77,163,203.
(4)Frederick Kiley and J.M.Shuttleworth,eds.,Satire from Aesop to Buchwald,New York:The Odyssey Press,1971,p.479.
(5)Darryl Dickson-Carr,African American Satire:The Sacredly Profane Novel,Columbia:University of Missouri Press,2001,p.16.
(6)Linda Hutcheon,A Poetics of Postmodernism:History,Theory,Fiction,New York:Routledge,1988,p.3.
(1)以上引文参见Dickson-Carr,African American Satire,p.32.
(2)Eduardo Bonilla-Silva,“The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind,‘Post-Racial’America,”American Behavioral Scientist,Vol.59,No.2,2015,p.1359.
(3)以上引文参见Eduardo Bonilla-Silva,“Racial Attitudes or Racial Ideology?An Alternative Paradigm for Examining ActorsRacial Views,”Journal of Political Ideologies,Vol.8,No.1,2003,pp.67-68.
(4)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.3,19,17,118,208.
(5)参见Roy L.Brooks,“Making the Case for Atonement in Post-Racial America,”The Journal of Gender,Race&Justice,Vol.14,2011,pp.668-670.
(6)参见Bonilla-Silva,“The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind,‘Post-Racial’America,”pp.1362-1363.
(1)参见Brooks,“Making the Case for Atonement in Post-Racial America,”p.673.
(2)美国学界对于“后种族时代”概念的定义和内涵一直存有争议,如“后种族时代一词不仅是有问题、令人困惑的,甚至在语法上也是错误的”(参见Amina Gautier,“On Post-Racial America in the Age of Obama,”Daedalus,Vol.140,No.1,2011,p.93),“后种族时代的确切起始时间是很难界定的,或许是1964年《公民权利法案》得以通过,或是1967年瑟古德·马歇尔(Thurgood Marshall)成为联邦最高法院的第一位非裔美国大法官,再或是奥巴马当选美国总统”(参见Michael Schaub,“The Sellout Is a Scorchingly Funny Satire on‘Post-Racial’America,”NPR,March 2,2015)。但概括而言,“后种族社会”的核心思想是指“一个种族概念不再重要的社会”(参见Brooks,“Making the Case for Atonement in Post-Racial America,”p.665)。
(3)Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Victor Ray,“When Whites Love a Black Leader:Race Matters in Obamerica,”Journal of African American Studies,No.13,2009,pp.180-181.
(4)Brooks,“Making the Case for Atonement in Post-Racial America,”p.666.
(5)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.167-168,94,260.
(6)Bonilla-Silva,“Racial Attitudes or Racial Ideology?An Alternative Paradigm for Examining ActorsRacial Views,”p.79.
(7)Bonilla-Silva,“Racial Attitudes or Racial Ideology?An Alternative Paradigm for Examining ActorsRacial Views,”p.67.
(1)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.95,217,98.
(2)以上引文参见Lisa Guerrero,“Can I Live?Contemporary Black Satire and the State of Postmodern Double Consciousness,”Studies in American Humor,Vol.2,No.2,2016,p.269.
(3)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.40,273.
(4)这篇文章主要从心理学和社会学角度研究黑人身份建构,被认为是“成为黑人”(Nigrescence)模型的奠基之作,而后克罗斯对该文的主要观点进行了完善,并于1991年出版了更加全面系统描述黑人身份的作品《黑色的阴影:非裔美国人身份的多样性》(Shades of Black:Diversity in African-American Identity)。
(5)William E.Cross,Jr,.“The Negro-to-Black Conversion Experience,”Black World,Vol.20,1971,p.26.
(6)Bonilla-Silva,“The Structure of Racism in Color-Blind,‘Post-Racial’America,”p.1368.
(1)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.214,274.
(2)Houston A.Baker,Jr,.“Critical Memory and the Black Public Sphere,”in The Black Public Sphere Collective,ed.,The Black Public Sphere,Chicago:University of Chicago Press,1995,p.7.
(3)参见Beatty,The Sellout,pp.115,163.
(4)Baker,“Critical Memory and the Black Public Sphere,”p.7.
(5)Hutcheon,A Poetics of Postmodernism,pp.4-5.
(6)Jean Baudrillard,Simulacra and Simulation,trans.by Sheila Faria Glaser,Ann Arbor:University of Michigan Press,1994,p.10.
(7)“President Obama Delivered His Farewell Speech Tuesday in Chicago,”Los Angeles Times,Jan.10,2017.
(1)参见Chris Jackson,“Our Thing:An Interview with Paul Beatty,”The Paris Review,May 7,2015.