卡里尔·菲利普斯小说中的流散叙事与国民身份焦虑
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摘要
当代英国小说家卡里尔·菲利普斯流散叙事中的主人公并非仅限于黑人,与黑人流散共生的白人的流散同样是菲利普斯关注的主题。透过小说,菲利普斯指出与白人流散者英国国民身份的"工具化"焦虑相对的是黑人流散者在英美社会中国民身份"工具化"与"商品化"的双重焦虑。黑人的有用性和可消费性是认定他们英美国家国民身份的基本标准。殖民地或英美国家里的黑人流散者对(流散)白人的绝对接受和服从与英美社会(白人)对黑人流散者有条件的接受形成鲜明反差。菲利普斯巧妙地将其流散叙事中对流散者国民身份焦虑的探讨转换为对殖民与后殖民语境下英美社会白人的种族道德批判。
In his diasporic narratives, contemporary British novelist Caryl Phillips' subject is not limited to the diaspora blacks. The symbiotic diaspora of white people is also one of the Phillips' thematic concerns. Through novels, Phillips has pointed out that the diaspora of British whites and the utilization of their labor have caused their anxiety of British citizenship. Correspondingly, the diaspora blacks are suffering from anxiety of British or American citizenship because of the utilization of their labor and the commercialization of their beings. The usefulness and salability of blacks is considered as the basic requirement for black people's British or American citizenship. Black people's unconditional acceptance of and submission to diaspora whites in colonies or in Anglo-American societies poses a sharp contrast with Anglo-American whites' conditional acceptance of diaspora blacks as citizens in Anglo-American societies. Phillips launches his racial moral criticism on Anglo-American whites by his representation of the citizenship anxiety of whites and blacks in his diasporic narrative.
In his diasporic narratives, contemporary British novelist Caryl Phillips' subject is not limited to the diaspora blacks. The symbiotic diaspora of white people is also one of the Phillips' thematic concerns. Through novels, Phillips has pointed out that the diaspora of British whites and the utilization of their labor have caused their anxiety of British citizenship. Correspondingly, the diaspora blacks are suffering from anxiety of British or American citizenship because of the utilization of their labor and the commercialization of their beings. The usefulness and salability of blacks is considered as the basic requirement for black people's British or American citizenship. Black people's unconditional acceptance of and submission to diaspora whites in colonies or in Anglo-American societies poses a sharp contrast with Anglo-American whites' conditional acceptance of diaspora blacks as citizens in Anglo-American societies. Phillips launches his racial moral criticism on Anglo-American whites by his representation of the citizenship anxiety of whites and blacks in his diasporic narrative.
引文
Foster,Charles.“The Colonization of Free Negroes,in Liberia,1816-1835.”The Journal of Negro History38 .1(Jan.1953):41-66.
Gilroy,Paul.The Black Atlantic Modernity and Double Consciousness.Cambridge,Massachusetts:Harvard UP,1993.
Morgan,Kenneth.Slavery,Atlantic Trade and the British Economy,1660-1800.Cambridge:Cambridge UP,2000.
Phillips,Caryl.Cambridge.New York:Vintage International Vintage Books,1993.
——.Crossing the River.London:Vintage Books,2006.
——.Dancing in the Dark.London:Vintage Books,2006.
——.A New World Order.London:Random House UK Ltd.,2001.
Seibert,Brian.“The Troubled Side of Comedy.”The Threepenny Review 105(Spring 2006):20-21.
Walvin,James.“The Slave Trade,Abolition and Public Memory.”Transactions of the Royal Historical Society,Sixth Series 19(2009):139-49.
Williams,Eric.Capitalism and Slavery.Durham,N.C.:The U of North Carolina P,1994.
徐彬:《卡里尔·菲利普斯<外国人>中的种族伦理内涵》,《国外文学》4(2016):127—136。[Xu Bin.“Racial Ethical Implications in Caryl Phillips’s Foreigners.”Foreign Literatures 4(2016):127-36.]
(1)菲利普斯借艾米丽之口给西印度的“克里奥人”下了定义:“在英国‘克里奥人’常用来形容混血人,然而在这里(西印度)这一术语既可指黑人又可指白人,他们是已经适应并能安全生活于这一新热带地区的人,或是在此地出生且能完全投入美洲蔗糖生产贸易中的人”。参见Phillips,Cambridge 38。《剑桥》中,“克里奥化”了的英国白人并非有钱有势的农场主,而是为谋生计在西印度种植园里给农场主打工的人;在变成“克里奥人”的同时,他们的英国人身份随即消失。
(2)英国著名自然学家查尔斯·达尔文(Charles Darwin,1809—1882)的表弟英国人类学家弗兰西斯·高尔顿爵士(Sir.Francis Galton,1822—1911)通过科学归纳法得出“在能力和智商方面,黑人比盎格鲁-萨克逊人(英国人)低至少两个等级”的结论。See John P.Jackson Jr.and Nadine M.Weidman,“The Origins of Scientific Racism,”The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education,No.50(Winter,2005/2006):66-79,67.
(3)在卡里尔·菲利普斯的官方主页上,艾米丽被描述为患道德失明症的英国大家闺秀(a morallyblind,genteel Englishwoman)。参见http://www.carylphillips.com/cambridge.html.
(4)作为自由人,艾库维阿诺曾饱受生活折磨。1792年定居伦敦后,艾库维阿诺娶英国姑娘苏珊娜·卡伦(Susannah Cullen)为妻,卡伦生下两个女儿,从此过上了幸福的生活。参见:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaudah_Equiano#Marriage_and_family
(5)英国著名文化理论家斯图亚特·霍尔(Stuart Hall,1932—2014)在《抵抗与管制》(Resistance and Policing)中以“富裕”、“共识”、“资产阶级化”和“高压”等关键词描述了英国政治、经济文化从20世纪五十年代到六十、七十年代由“左倾”向“右倾”的转向。参见James Procter,Stuart Hall(London and New York:Routledge,2004)86-87.
Gilroy,Paul.The Black Atlantic Modernity and Double Consciousness.Cambridge,Massachusetts:Harvard UP,1993.
Morgan,Kenneth.Slavery,Atlantic Trade and the British Economy,1660-1800.Cambridge:Cambridge UP,2000.
Phillips,Caryl.Cambridge.New York:Vintage International Vintage Books,1993.
——.Crossing the River.London:Vintage Books,2006.
——.Dancing in the Dark.London:Vintage Books,2006.
——.A New World Order.London:Random House UK Ltd.,2001.
Seibert,Brian.“The Troubled Side of Comedy.”The Threepenny Review 105(Spring 2006):20-21.
Walvin,James.“The Slave Trade,Abolition and Public Memory.”Transactions of the Royal Historical Society,Sixth Series 19(2009):139-49.
Williams,Eric.Capitalism and Slavery.Durham,N.C.:The U of North Carolina P,1994.
徐彬:《卡里尔·菲利普斯<外国人>中的种族伦理内涵》,《国外文学》4(2016):127—136。[Xu Bin.“Racial Ethical Implications in Caryl Phillips’s Foreigners.”Foreign Literatures 4(2016):127-36.]
(1)菲利普斯借艾米丽之口给西印度的“克里奥人”下了定义:“在英国‘克里奥人’常用来形容混血人,然而在这里(西印度)这一术语既可指黑人又可指白人,他们是已经适应并能安全生活于这一新热带地区的人,或是在此地出生且能完全投入美洲蔗糖生产贸易中的人”。参见Phillips,Cambridge 38。《剑桥》中,“克里奥化”了的英国白人并非有钱有势的农场主,而是为谋生计在西印度种植园里给农场主打工的人;在变成“克里奥人”的同时,他们的英国人身份随即消失。
(2)英国著名自然学家查尔斯·达尔文(Charles Darwin,1809—1882)的表弟英国人类学家弗兰西斯·高尔顿爵士(Sir.Francis Galton,1822—1911)通过科学归纳法得出“在能力和智商方面,黑人比盎格鲁-萨克逊人(英国人)低至少两个等级”的结论。See John P.Jackson Jr.and Nadine M.Weidman,“The Origins of Scientific Racism,”The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education,No.50(Winter,2005/2006):66-79,67.
(3)在卡里尔·菲利普斯的官方主页上,艾米丽被描述为患道德失明症的英国大家闺秀(a morallyblind,genteel Englishwoman)。参见http://www.carylphillips.com/cambridge.html.
(4)作为自由人,艾库维阿诺曾饱受生活折磨。1792年定居伦敦后,艾库维阿诺娶英国姑娘苏珊娜·卡伦(Susannah Cullen)为妻,卡伦生下两个女儿,从此过上了幸福的生活。参见:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaudah_Equiano#Marriage_and_family
(5)英国著名文化理论家斯图亚特·霍尔(Stuart Hall,1932—2014)在《抵抗与管制》(Resistance and Policing)中以“富裕”、“共识”、“资产阶级化”和“高压”等关键词描述了英国政治、经济文化从20世纪五十年代到六十、七十年代由“左倾”向“右倾”的转向。参见James Procter,Stuart Hall(London and New York:Routledge,2004)86-87.