殖民语境下的女性角色
摘要
作为文学史上最优秀的英国小说家之一，E．M．福斯特创作了六部长篇小说和大量的文学评沦，他的作品大都通过真实的人物塑造来展现抽象的思想观点。其中，最为人们熟知的就是他的代表作，被誉为二十世纪最优秀小说之一的《印度之旅》。
自从这部小说1924年发表以来，它丰富的主题思想一直都是批评家关注的焦点，它被看作是一部描写政治冲突，介绍东方神秘主义，亦或是阐述文化差异和人类关系的书。此外，对作品中讽刺、对立、意象和象征等手法的解析使得这部小说的内涵更加的丰富多彩和震撼人心。
作为一部描写英国殖民官的小说，《印度之旅》同样吸引了殖民和后殖民评论家的关注，然而对于小说中女性人物的评价却不多见或者比较局限。以《印度之旅》作为一个殖民文本，本文主要分析了殖民语境父权制下的女性被利用的问题。全文共分六个部分，引言部分介绍了作者福斯特的生平、他在文学史上的重要地位、以及小说《印度之旅》的写作背景和相关文学评论。
第一章主要讨论殖民语境下女性的从属地位。在漫长的父权社会历史中，男性被定义为第一性，女性则是第二性。殖民主义的出现并没有改变这种状况，而是进一步加剧了女性的边缘化。殖民背景下公共空间和私人空间的严格划分使得白人和黑人女性都被局限在各自的家庭中。同时，男性还试图通过压制女性表达自我的声音进而把她们排除在小说的主流话语之外。此外，在东方主义自我／他者的话语中，福斯特运用种族和性别之间的类比，即殖民女性阿黛拉与被殖民的男性阿齐兹的类比，进一步加速了女性的消失。
第二章从三个方面分析了女性人物在性别统治和殖民统治的建构中所起的重要作用。虽然女性没有直接参与政治，但是她们的爱情和婚姻都是为帝国主义的延续和扩张服务的。诸如女性教育和殉葬的印度寡妇“萨蒂”等问题也都已成为合理化殖民主义的有利借口。小说中印度和英国女性都被看作性对象而加以评价，成为不同种族之间男性连接的象征中介和他们化解矛盾的牺牲品。
第三章主要围绕小说中最重要的情节强奸案件展开。其实福斯特对于这个情节的运用是基于许多真实的历史事件，特别是1857年印度大叛乱留在英国人心中的恐慌。在殖民主义者看来，对于女性身体的侵犯就是对殖民统治本身的反抗。白人男性把白人妇女置于黑人男性的性受害对象的位置使得他们能够通过把自己塑造成正义的复仇者和女性的保护者而去合法地镇压那些对殖民统治构成的威胁。而对于民族主义者来说，强奸黑人妇女的白人男性也是他们的复仇对象，因为女性的面纱和闺房等都被看作了一种民族文化的象征。被剥夺了政治权利的黑人男性把对白人女性的侵犯看作一种反殖民主义的方式。
第四章探讨了白人女性与黑人女性的关系。两者相似的境遇并没有使得他们结成联盟去反抗，相反，作为殖民主义的受害者，白人女性同时也参与了维护和加强帝国的统治。在小说中英国女性对于他们印度姐妹的明显歧视态度，以及在阿黛拉案件中暗指的历史上英国女性对于Illbert法案的坚决反对都表明了白人女性内心的种族差别。即使是那些怀有拯救和教化她们印度姐妹的白人女权主义者也面临着把黑人妇女作为白人女性相对的他者，来巩固西方女权主义者的自我身份的窘境，而这种话语本身在某种意义上也是一种殖民话语。
对于像《印度之旅》这样的一部殖民小说，女性的角色应该在种族问题和性别政治的双重背景下来考察。种族、性和性别问题的相互交织使得同样被边缘的殖民和被殖民女性沦落为两种父权制度的牺牲品，以及殖民主义和反殖民主义的斗争工具。然而，这两种女性的代表是处在不同的层次上的，在白人女性那里黑人女性又一次被边缘化。
As one of the finest British novelist in literature, E. M. Forster creates six novels and many criticisms. His works are admired for their believable characters that serve as representation of abstract ideas. He is mostly remembered for his masterpiece A Passage to India, which is considered among the finest achievements in the twentieth century fiction.
This novel was completed after his two trips in India from 1912 to 1913 and 1921 to 1922. During this period, British colonial dominance in India came to its last struggling phase. Indian social problems had become more acute: political agitation and even rioting indicated the strength of the demand for independence.
Since the publication of this novel in 1924, the diversity of its themes has always been the focus of critics-it has been considered to be a book of political conflicts, a book of Eastern mysteries, a book of cultural differences, and a book of human relationship. These perspectives, woven together through various forms -satires, contrast, imagery, symbolism, make the novel rich, colorful, striking and successful.
As a novel about British Raj, A Passage to India also attracts more attention from colonial and post-colonial critics, however, criticism on women in the novel is very little or limited. With A passage to India as a colonial text, this thesis mainly focuses on women as pawn in colonial and patriarchal context from the perspective of gender and racial politics. This thesis consists of six parts. A brief introduction first offers Forster's life and his status in the history of literature, as well as the present criticism on A Passage to India.
Chapter one focuses on women's inferior status in colonial context. In long patriarchal society, male is defined as the first sex and women the second one, yet colonialism intensifies women's marginalized status rather than improve it. The further division of public and private space confines both white and black women in their private space of home. At the same time, men try to suppress their voice and exclude them from the main discourse of the whole novel. Moreover, in the Oriental discourse of Self/Other, the analogy between race and gender—colonial women Adela and colonized men Aziz, further accelerates women's disappearance.
Chapter two analyzes the significance of the figure of women in construction of gender and colonial dominance from three aspects. Though women are prevented from directly participating in politics, the matters of love and marriage are subordinated to imperial service of the maintenance and extension of British power. Women's issues such as Indian sati and women's education also offer pretexts of colonialism. All the Indian and English women in A Passage to India are evaluated by sexuality. They are only victims in the connection between men of different races.
Chapter three is mainly concerned with the most important scene in the novel—the rape case. In fact, Forster's employment of rape has a historical background, especially the fear of 1857 Mutiny. Colonialists regard the violence on white women as a revolt for colonial domination. Thus the positioning of white women as sex victims of black males allowed English men to beat this challenge to colonial rule legally by casting themselves in the role of righteous avengers and chivalric protectors. As for the nationalists, the white men who rape black women are the objects of revenge, because women's veiling and harem is also the signifier of indigenous culture. Being deprived of political power, black men see rape of white women as a way of anti-colonialism.
Chapter four discusses the white feminists and black women. The similar condition of black and white women does not bring them into an alliance; instead, white women are pawns and players in maintaining and reinforcing imperialism. English women's obvious contempt for their black sisters in the novel and their historical furious opposition to the Illbert Bill which the novel alludes to in the Adela's case shows the white women's inner racial discrimination. Even those feminists with the hope of saving and civilizing their Indian sisters are running the risk of regarding black women as a site to consolidate their self-identity.
In the novel A Passage to India, The role of woman in colonial context should be analyzed in racial and gender politics. Race, sexuality and gender are so interweaved that marginalized colonial and colonized women are reduced to the vitims of two patriarchies, as well as the tool of colonialism and nationalism. However, the representation of women in the novel is in different hierarchy, for black women become the Other again in white feminism.
自从这部小说1924年发表以来，它丰富的主题思想一直都是批评家关注的焦点，它被看作是一部描写政治冲突，介绍东方神秘主义，亦或是阐述文化差异和人类关系的书。此外，对作品中讽刺、对立、意象和象征等手法的解析使得这部小说的内涵更加的丰富多彩和震撼人心。
作为一部描写英国殖民官的小说，《印度之旅》同样吸引了殖民和后殖民评论家的关注，然而对于小说中女性人物的评价却不多见或者比较局限。以《印度之旅》作为一个殖民文本，本文主要分析了殖民语境父权制下的女性被利用的问题。全文共分六个部分，引言部分介绍了作者福斯特的生平、他在文学史上的重要地位、以及小说《印度之旅》的写作背景和相关文学评论。
第一章主要讨论殖民语境下女性的从属地位。在漫长的父权社会历史中，男性被定义为第一性，女性则是第二性。殖民主义的出现并没有改变这种状况，而是进一步加剧了女性的边缘化。殖民背景下公共空间和私人空间的严格划分使得白人和黑人女性都被局限在各自的家庭中。同时，男性还试图通过压制女性表达自我的声音进而把她们排除在小说的主流话语之外。此外，在东方主义自我／他者的话语中，福斯特运用种族和性别之间的类比，即殖民女性阿黛拉与被殖民的男性阿齐兹的类比，进一步加速了女性的消失。
第二章从三个方面分析了女性人物在性别统治和殖民统治的建构中所起的重要作用。虽然女性没有直接参与政治，但是她们的爱情和婚姻都是为帝国主义的延续和扩张服务的。诸如女性教育和殉葬的印度寡妇“萨蒂”等问题也都已成为合理化殖民主义的有利借口。小说中印度和英国女性都被看作性对象而加以评价，成为不同种族之间男性连接的象征中介和他们化解矛盾的牺牲品。
第三章主要围绕小说中最重要的情节强奸案件展开。其实福斯特对于这个情节的运用是基于许多真实的历史事件，特别是1857年印度大叛乱留在英国人心中的恐慌。在殖民主义者看来，对于女性身体的侵犯就是对殖民统治本身的反抗。白人男性把白人妇女置于黑人男性的性受害对象的位置使得他们能够通过把自己塑造成正义的复仇者和女性的保护者而去合法地镇压那些对殖民统治构成的威胁。而对于民族主义者来说，强奸黑人妇女的白人男性也是他们的复仇对象，因为女性的面纱和闺房等都被看作了一种民族文化的象征。被剥夺了政治权利的黑人男性把对白人女性的侵犯看作一种反殖民主义的方式。
第四章探讨了白人女性与黑人女性的关系。两者相似的境遇并没有使得他们结成联盟去反抗，相反，作为殖民主义的受害者，白人女性同时也参与了维护和加强帝国的统治。在小说中英国女性对于他们印度姐妹的明显歧视态度，以及在阿黛拉案件中暗指的历史上英国女性对于Illbert法案的坚决反对都表明了白人女性内心的种族差别。即使是那些怀有拯救和教化她们印度姐妹的白人女权主义者也面临着把黑人妇女作为白人女性相对的他者，来巩固西方女权主义者的自我身份的窘境，而这种话语本身在某种意义上也是一种殖民话语。
对于像《印度之旅》这样的一部殖民小说，女性的角色应该在种族问题和性别政治的双重背景下来考察。种族、性和性别问题的相互交织使得同样被边缘的殖民和被殖民女性沦落为两种父权制度的牺牲品，以及殖民主义和反殖民主义的斗争工具。然而，这两种女性的代表是处在不同的层次上的，在白人女性那里黑人女性又一次被边缘化。
As one of the finest British novelist in literature, E. M. Forster creates six novels and many criticisms. His works are admired for their believable characters that serve as representation of abstract ideas. He is mostly remembered for his masterpiece A Passage to India, which is considered among the finest achievements in the twentieth century fiction.
This novel was completed after his two trips in India from 1912 to 1913 and 1921 to 1922. During this period, British colonial dominance in India came to its last struggling phase. Indian social problems had become more acute: political agitation and even rioting indicated the strength of the demand for independence.
Since the publication of this novel in 1924, the diversity of its themes has always been the focus of critics-it has been considered to be a book of political conflicts, a book of Eastern mysteries, a book of cultural differences, and a book of human relationship. These perspectives, woven together through various forms -satires, contrast, imagery, symbolism, make the novel rich, colorful, striking and successful.
As a novel about British Raj, A Passage to India also attracts more attention from colonial and post-colonial critics, however, criticism on women in the novel is very little or limited. With A passage to India as a colonial text, this thesis mainly focuses on women as pawn in colonial and patriarchal context from the perspective of gender and racial politics. This thesis consists of six parts. A brief introduction first offers Forster's life and his status in the history of literature, as well as the present criticism on A Passage to India.
Chapter one focuses on women's inferior status in colonial context. In long patriarchal society, male is defined as the first sex and women the second one, yet colonialism intensifies women's marginalized status rather than improve it. The further division of public and private space confines both white and black women in their private space of home. At the same time, men try to suppress their voice and exclude them from the main discourse of the whole novel. Moreover, in the Oriental discourse of Self/Other, the analogy between race and gender—colonial women Adela and colonized men Aziz, further accelerates women's disappearance.
Chapter two analyzes the significance of the figure of women in construction of gender and colonial dominance from three aspects. Though women are prevented from directly participating in politics, the matters of love and marriage are subordinated to imperial service of the maintenance and extension of British power. Women's issues such as Indian sati and women's education also offer pretexts of colonialism. All the Indian and English women in A Passage to India are evaluated by sexuality. They are only victims in the connection between men of different races.
Chapter three is mainly concerned with the most important scene in the novel—the rape case. In fact, Forster's employment of rape has a historical background, especially the fear of 1857 Mutiny. Colonialists regard the violence on white women as a revolt for colonial domination. Thus the positioning of white women as sex victims of black males allowed English men to beat this challenge to colonial rule legally by casting themselves in the role of righteous avengers and chivalric protectors. As for the nationalists, the white men who rape black women are the objects of revenge, because women's veiling and harem is also the signifier of indigenous culture. Being deprived of political power, black men see rape of white women as a way of anti-colonialism.
Chapter four discusses the white feminists and black women. The similar condition of black and white women does not bring them into an alliance; instead, white women are pawns and players in maintaining and reinforcing imperialism. English women's obvious contempt for their black sisters in the novel and their historical furious opposition to the Illbert Bill which the novel alludes to in the Adela's case shows the white women's inner racial discrimination. Even those feminists with the hope of saving and civilizing their Indian sisters are running the risk of regarding black women as a site to consolidate their self-identity.
In the novel A Passage to India, The role of woman in colonial context should be analyzed in racial and gender politics. Race, sexuality and gender are so interweaved that marginalized colonial and colonized women are reduced to the vitims of two patriarchies, as well as the tool of colonialism and nationalism. However, the representation of women in the novel is in different hierarchy, for black women become the Other again in white feminism.
引文
Burton, M. "The White Woman's Burden: British Feminists and the Indian Woman", 1965-1915. Women's Studies International Forum 4 (1990): 271-298.
Barker, F. et. al. Eds. Woman/India, the "American" and his Others Europe and its Myth, Colcherster: Univeristy of Essex Press, 1985.
Berger, J. Ways of Seein. London: BBC and Penguin Books, 1972
Bergner, Gwen. "Who Is That Masked Woman? Or, The Role of Gender in Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks." PMLA 110.1 (January 1995): 75-88
Carr, H. Woman/India, the "American" and his Others Europe and its Myth Eds. F. Barker, P. Hulme, M. Iversen and D. Loxley. Colcherster: Univeristy of Essex Press, 1985
Chandra Tapade Mohanty. "Under Wesstern Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourse." Ed. Williams and Chrisman. 196-220.
Chatterjee, P. "The Nationalist Resolution of the Women's Question." Ed. K. Sangari and S. Vaid. Recasting Women:Essays in Colonial History. 1989. 233-253.
Fanon, F. Black Skin, White Masks. trans. C. L. Markmann, New York: Grove Press, 1967.
—A Dying Colonialism, trans. H. Chevalier, New York: Grove Press, 1965.
Forster, E. M. A Passage to India. Penguin Books, 1985.
Herz Jdith Soberer. A PASSAGE TO INDIA: Nation and Narration. New York: Twayne Publisher, 1993.
Krishnaswamy, Revathi. Effeminism: The Economy of Colonial Desire. The University of Michigan Press, 1998.
Lewis, Renia and Mills, Sara, eds. Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.
Loomba, Ania, Colonialism/Postcolonialism, London and New York: Routleddge, 1998.
Mani, L. "Contentious Trqaditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India." Eds K. Sangari and S.Vaid. New Deli: Kali For Women, 1989.88-126.
Sainsbury, Alison. "Married to the empire: the Anglo-Indian domestic novel." Writing India 1757-1990 The literature of British India. Ed. Bart Moore-Gilbert Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996. 163-187.
Stepan, Nancy Leys, 1990, "Race and Sex: The Role of Analogy in Science." in D.T. Goldberg (ed.) The Anatomy of Racism. Minneapolis, MN and London: University of Minnesota Press, 1990. 261-277.
Silver, Brenda R. "Periphrasis, Power, and Rape in A Passage to India." Ed. Stape, J. H. E. M. Forster Critical Assessments (Ⅷ) Monntfield, East Sussex: Helm Information, 197. 379-401.
Sharpe, Jenny. "The Unspeakable Limits of Rape: Colonial Violence and Counter-Insurgency." Ed. Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. 221-243.
Spivak, Gayatri. "Can the Subaltern Speak?" Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988. 271-313.
Trilling, Lionel. E. M. Forster. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980.
Wilder, Alan. Critical Essays on E. M. Forster. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1985.
林树明：“性别意识与族群政治的复杂纠葛：后殖民女性主义文学批评”《外国文学研究》，2002年第3期
石幼珊，马志行(译)：《印度之旅》，重庆：重庆出版社 1988
夏万碧：“《印度之行》中的女性描写”《西华大学学报》，2005增刊
王苹：“阿黛拉奎斯特解读—《印度之行》妇女形象初探”《江苏教育学院学报》2004年第1期
Barker, F. et. al. Eds. Woman/India, the "American" and his Others Europe and its Myth, Colcherster: Univeristy of Essex Press, 1985.
Berger, J. Ways of Seein. London: BBC and Penguin Books, 1972
Bergner, Gwen. "Who Is That Masked Woman? Or, The Role of Gender in Fanon's Black Skin, White Masks." PMLA 110.1 (January 1995): 75-88
Carr, H. Woman/India, the "American" and his Others Europe and its Myth Eds. F. Barker, P. Hulme, M. Iversen and D. Loxley. Colcherster: Univeristy of Essex Press, 1985
Chandra Tapade Mohanty. "Under Wesstern Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourse." Ed. Williams and Chrisman. 196-220.
Chatterjee, P. "The Nationalist Resolution of the Women's Question." Ed. K. Sangari and S. Vaid. Recasting Women:Essays in Colonial History. 1989. 233-253.
Fanon, F. Black Skin, White Masks. trans. C. L. Markmann, New York: Grove Press, 1967.
—A Dying Colonialism, trans. H. Chevalier, New York: Grove Press, 1965.
Forster, E. M. A Passage to India. Penguin Books, 1985.
Herz Jdith Soberer. A PASSAGE TO INDIA: Nation and Narration. New York: Twayne Publisher, 1993.
Krishnaswamy, Revathi. Effeminism: The Economy of Colonial Desire. The University of Michigan Press, 1998.
Lewis, Renia and Mills, Sara, eds. Feminist Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2003.
Loomba, Ania, Colonialism/Postcolonialism, London and New York: Routleddge, 1998.
Mani, L. "Contentious Trqaditions: The Debate on Sati in Colonial India." Eds K. Sangari and S.Vaid. New Deli: Kali For Women, 1989.88-126.
Sainsbury, Alison. "Married to the empire: the Anglo-Indian domestic novel." Writing India 1757-1990 The literature of British India. Ed. Bart Moore-Gilbert Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1996. 163-187.
Stepan, Nancy Leys, 1990, "Race and Sex: The Role of Analogy in Science." in D.T. Goldberg (ed.) The Anatomy of Racism. Minneapolis, MN and London: University of Minnesota Press, 1990. 261-277.
Silver, Brenda R. "Periphrasis, Power, and Rape in A Passage to India." Ed. Stape, J. H. E. M. Forster Critical Assessments (Ⅷ) Monntfield, East Sussex: Helm Information, 197. 379-401.
Sharpe, Jenny. "The Unspeakable Limits of Rape: Colonial Violence and Counter-Insurgency." Ed. Patrick Williams and Laura Chrisman. Colonial Discourse and Postcolonial Theory: A Reader. New York: Columbia University Press, 1994. 221-243.
Spivak, Gayatri. "Can the Subaltern Speak?" Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1988. 271-313.
Trilling, Lionel. E. M. Forster. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980.
Wilder, Alan. Critical Essays on E. M. Forster. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1985.
林树明：“性别意识与族群政治的复杂纠葛：后殖民女性主义文学批评”《外国文学研究》，2002年第3期
石幼珊，马志行(译)：《印度之旅》，重庆：重庆出版社 1988
夏万碧：“《印度之行》中的女性描写”《西华大学学报》，2005增刊
王苹：“阿黛拉奎斯特解读—《印度之行》妇女形象初探”《江苏教育学院学报》2004年第1期