东方主义在《中国佬》中的彰显与消解
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摘要
自二十世纪七十年代以来,汤亭亭无疑是美国华裔作家的中最令人瞩目的一位,同时她也是美国少数族裔写作和女性写作的代表,其作品畅销于通俗文学市场以及学术研究界。汤亭亭的成功标志着华裔美国文学的崛起和繁荣。
出版于1980年的《中国佬》获得了美国国家书奖、美国国家书评圈奖,并获普利策奖题名。该书取材于汤亭亭家族中四代男性的移民故事,全面展示了从十九世纪鸦片战争时期到二十世纪七十年代越南战争结束后华人在美的生活经历。在这部作品中,读者可以倾听曾祖父在夏威夷甘蔗园中愤怒的呐喊,寻找祖父在美国西部铁路上英雄的足迹,感受父亲在美国底层社会艰辛的创业,以及体会弟弟在越南战场上反战主和的光辉人性。在赞扬华人对美国社会建设做出巨大贡献以及讴歌华裔男性的英雄气概的同时,书中还有大量关于中国传统习俗和传统文化的描写。《中国佬》一方面颠覆了美国正史对华人的消音和抹杀,另一方面也重现了西方人眼中的东方文化,因此,这部作品与赛义德提出的“东方主义”有着千丝万缕的关系。
本文试以“东方主义”为理论依据,分析《中国佬》中对“东方主义”的再现与颠覆。论文共包括五个部分,即前言、结论以及三个章节。
第一章主要介绍了赛义德的“东方主义”。“东方主义”是赛义德后殖民主义理论中的一个重要组成部分,强调文学研究与政治和社会历史的结合。它包含三个方面的含义,即西方有关东方的一整套知识体系,一种将东方与西方对立的思维方式,以及在东方主义话语下建立的西方对东方的权力关系。为了进一步了解“东方主义”的发展以及和美国华裔文学之间的关系,本文还介绍了美国华裔批评家李磊伟所提出的“老东方主义”和“新东方主义”的区别。此外,对有关隐蔽的与显在的“东方主义”也做了划分。这是本文的理论基础。
第二章分析了“东方主义”在《中国佬》中的彰显与建构。在东方主义者眼中,东方代表了怪异、落后与神秘,与之形成鲜明对比的则是西方的文明、先进和理性。这种东方主义式的偏见出于西方对东方的无知、歧视以及猎奇心理。作为第二代华裔移民,汤亭亭彻底接受了西方式的教育和价值理念。因此,她对中国的一些传统习俗和观念也就表现出一定程度的偏见和鄙视。她笔下所描绘的古老而神秘的中国也就进一步加深和印证了西方读者头脑中固有的中国形象。本章分从三个方面分析了汤亭亭对中国文化的东方主义解读,即中国人的衣食住行、迷信和中国传统价值观。
第三章分析了“东方主义”在《中国佬》中的消解与解构。在长期的种族歧视和文化偏见的重压下,美国文学作品中充满了令人反感的和蔑视的无能的东方男性形象。为了回击西方的文化霸权,打破长期以来华裔在西方主流话语中的失语状态,汤亭亭从历史史实出发,颠覆了“东方主义”话语强压在中国男性身上的刻板形象,赞扬了美国华裔男性的勇敢、刚强和勤奋的优秀品质,成功的再现了东方人的男性气质。本章分文两大部分,分别分析了华裔男性对美国建设所做的巨大贡献以及汤亭亭家族中的四代男性在美国表现出的男性的阳刚之气。
总之,《中国佬》结合了对中国传统文化的东方主义解读以及对中国男性形象反东方主义解读。然而,虽然《中国佬》获得了巨大成功,但其在美国主流社会中的影响却无法与《女勇士》相比。原因就在于《中国佬》明确揭示了美国当权者和西方主流文化对华裔移民的压迫和剥削,这也表明时至今日,西方文化霸权依然存在,“东方主义”也始终在支配着东西方关系。这是一个需要保持警醒的问题。
There is no doubt to say that Maxine Hong Kingston has become the greatest Chinese American writer since the 1970s. She is also the representative of American minorities and women writing, with the works popularized in popular literary market and in academic circle. Kingston's success marks the rise and prosperity of Chinese American literature.
Published in 1980, China Men has won the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Based on the four male generations' stories of Kingston's family, this book represents the Chinese immigrants' real living conditions in America from the Opium War to the end of Vietnam War. The readers can listen to the great grandfather's indignant shout in the Hawaii sugarcane plantation, search the grandfather's heroic trace on the American western railroad, sense the father's tough business in the bottom of American society, and experience the brother's pure human nature in the Vietnam War. When Kingston eulogizes the enormous contribution that the Chinese immigrants had done to the America construction and celebrates their masculinity, she also depicts the Chinese traditional convention and culture. On one hand, China Men subverts the obliteration of Chinese immigrants in America history and governmental record; while on the other hand, it represents the oriental culture in the westerners'eyes. Therefore, this book has close connection with orientalism which Said has put forward.
This thesis attempts to analyze the representation and subversion of orientalism in China Men from Said's theoretical perspective. It mainly includes five parts, that is, introduction, conclusion and three chapters.
Chapter one introduces Said's orientalism, which functions as an important part in his postcolonial theories and emphasizes the combination of literary criticism and politics as well as social history. Orientalism mainly includes three interdependent connotations, i.e. the whole set of knowledge about the Orient in the Occident, a style of thought opposites the Orient and the Occident, and the power relationship of the Occident over the Orient based on the orientalist discourse. In order to further explain the development of orientalism and its relationship with Chinese American literature, this thesis puts forward the distinctions between "Old Orientalism" and "New Orientalism", as well as "the latent Orientalism" and "the manifest Orientalism".
Chapter two analyzes the representation and construction of orientalism in China Men. In the orientalists' eyes, the east represents irrational, brutal and mysterious whereas the west is civilized, advanced and rational. This orientalist bias comes from the westerners' ignorance, prejudice and curiosity. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Kingston has received the authentic western education and culture; therefore, she shows bias and disdain of the Chinese traditional values and conventions to some extent. Her depiction of the old and mysterious China helps to reinforce the fixed image of China in the westerners' mind. This chapter consists of three parts, that is, the people's necessities of life, superstition and Chinese traditional values.
Chapter three analyzes the subversion and deconstruction of orientalism in China Men. Influenced by the long racial discrimination and cultural bias, the American literary works are full of scandalous and impotent eastern male images. In order to fight against the western cultural hegemony and break the silence of Chinese immigrants in the western mainstream discourse, Kingston subverts the stereotypes of China men, eulogizes their brave, unyielding and industrious quality and successfully represents the easterners' masculinity. This chapter is divided into two parts which respectively analyzes the Chinese laborers' enormous contribution to the American construction and the characters of four male generations in Kingston's family.
All in all, China Men combines the orientalist reading of Chinese traditional culture and the anti-orientalist reading of Chinese male images. However, its influence cannot be compared with The Woman Warrior, mainly because it truly reveals the exploitation and oppression of the western mainstream culture. This phenomenon reflects that nowadays western cultural hegemony still exists and orientalism still controls the relationship between the east and the west.
出版于1980年的《中国佬》获得了美国国家书奖、美国国家书评圈奖,并获普利策奖题名。该书取材于汤亭亭家族中四代男性的移民故事,全面展示了从十九世纪鸦片战争时期到二十世纪七十年代越南战争结束后华人在美的生活经历。在这部作品中,读者可以倾听曾祖父在夏威夷甘蔗园中愤怒的呐喊,寻找祖父在美国西部铁路上英雄的足迹,感受父亲在美国底层社会艰辛的创业,以及体会弟弟在越南战场上反战主和的光辉人性。在赞扬华人对美国社会建设做出巨大贡献以及讴歌华裔男性的英雄气概的同时,书中还有大量关于中国传统习俗和传统文化的描写。《中国佬》一方面颠覆了美国正史对华人的消音和抹杀,另一方面也重现了西方人眼中的东方文化,因此,这部作品与赛义德提出的“东方主义”有着千丝万缕的关系。
本文试以“东方主义”为理论依据,分析《中国佬》中对“东方主义”的再现与颠覆。论文共包括五个部分,即前言、结论以及三个章节。
第一章主要介绍了赛义德的“东方主义”。“东方主义”是赛义德后殖民主义理论中的一个重要组成部分,强调文学研究与政治和社会历史的结合。它包含三个方面的含义,即西方有关东方的一整套知识体系,一种将东方与西方对立的思维方式,以及在东方主义话语下建立的西方对东方的权力关系。为了进一步了解“东方主义”的发展以及和美国华裔文学之间的关系,本文还介绍了美国华裔批评家李磊伟所提出的“老东方主义”和“新东方主义”的区别。此外,对有关隐蔽的与显在的“东方主义”也做了划分。这是本文的理论基础。
第二章分析了“东方主义”在《中国佬》中的彰显与建构。在东方主义者眼中,东方代表了怪异、落后与神秘,与之形成鲜明对比的则是西方的文明、先进和理性。这种东方主义式的偏见出于西方对东方的无知、歧视以及猎奇心理。作为第二代华裔移民,汤亭亭彻底接受了西方式的教育和价值理念。因此,她对中国的一些传统习俗和观念也就表现出一定程度的偏见和鄙视。她笔下所描绘的古老而神秘的中国也就进一步加深和印证了西方读者头脑中固有的中国形象。本章分从三个方面分析了汤亭亭对中国文化的东方主义解读,即中国人的衣食住行、迷信和中国传统价值观。
第三章分析了“东方主义”在《中国佬》中的消解与解构。在长期的种族歧视和文化偏见的重压下,美国文学作品中充满了令人反感的和蔑视的无能的东方男性形象。为了回击西方的文化霸权,打破长期以来华裔在西方主流话语中的失语状态,汤亭亭从历史史实出发,颠覆了“东方主义”话语强压在中国男性身上的刻板形象,赞扬了美国华裔男性的勇敢、刚强和勤奋的优秀品质,成功的再现了东方人的男性气质。本章分文两大部分,分别分析了华裔男性对美国建设所做的巨大贡献以及汤亭亭家族中的四代男性在美国表现出的男性的阳刚之气。
总之,《中国佬》结合了对中国传统文化的东方主义解读以及对中国男性形象反东方主义解读。然而,虽然《中国佬》获得了巨大成功,但其在美国主流社会中的影响却无法与《女勇士》相比。原因就在于《中国佬》明确揭示了美国当权者和西方主流文化对华裔移民的压迫和剥削,这也表明时至今日,西方文化霸权依然存在,“东方主义”也始终在支配着东西方关系。这是一个需要保持警醒的问题。
There is no doubt to say that Maxine Hong Kingston has become the greatest Chinese American writer since the 1970s. She is also the representative of American minorities and women writing, with the works popularized in popular literary market and in academic circle. Kingston's success marks the rise and prosperity of Chinese American literature.
Published in 1980, China Men has won the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award and nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. Based on the four male generations' stories of Kingston's family, this book represents the Chinese immigrants' real living conditions in America from the Opium War to the end of Vietnam War. The readers can listen to the great grandfather's indignant shout in the Hawaii sugarcane plantation, search the grandfather's heroic trace on the American western railroad, sense the father's tough business in the bottom of American society, and experience the brother's pure human nature in the Vietnam War. When Kingston eulogizes the enormous contribution that the Chinese immigrants had done to the America construction and celebrates their masculinity, she also depicts the Chinese traditional convention and culture. On one hand, China Men subverts the obliteration of Chinese immigrants in America history and governmental record; while on the other hand, it represents the oriental culture in the westerners'eyes. Therefore, this book has close connection with orientalism which Said has put forward.
This thesis attempts to analyze the representation and subversion of orientalism in China Men from Said's theoretical perspective. It mainly includes five parts, that is, introduction, conclusion and three chapters.
Chapter one introduces Said's orientalism, which functions as an important part in his postcolonial theories and emphasizes the combination of literary criticism and politics as well as social history. Orientalism mainly includes three interdependent connotations, i.e. the whole set of knowledge about the Orient in the Occident, a style of thought opposites the Orient and the Occident, and the power relationship of the Occident over the Orient based on the orientalist discourse. In order to further explain the development of orientalism and its relationship with Chinese American literature, this thesis puts forward the distinctions between "Old Orientalism" and "New Orientalism", as well as "the latent Orientalism" and "the manifest Orientalism".
Chapter two analyzes the representation and construction of orientalism in China Men. In the orientalists' eyes, the east represents irrational, brutal and mysterious whereas the west is civilized, advanced and rational. This orientalist bias comes from the westerners' ignorance, prejudice and curiosity. As the second generation of Chinese immigrants, Kingston has received the authentic western education and culture; therefore, she shows bias and disdain of the Chinese traditional values and conventions to some extent. Her depiction of the old and mysterious China helps to reinforce the fixed image of China in the westerners' mind. This chapter consists of three parts, that is, the people's necessities of life, superstition and Chinese traditional values.
Chapter three analyzes the subversion and deconstruction of orientalism in China Men. Influenced by the long racial discrimination and cultural bias, the American literary works are full of scandalous and impotent eastern male images. In order to fight against the western cultural hegemony and break the silence of Chinese immigrants in the western mainstream discourse, Kingston subverts the stereotypes of China men, eulogizes their brave, unyielding and industrious quality and successfully represents the easterners' masculinity. This chapter is divided into two parts which respectively analyzes the Chinese laborers' enormous contribution to the American construction and the characters of four male generations in Kingston's family.
All in all, China Men combines the orientalist reading of Chinese traditional culture and the anti-orientalist reading of Chinese male images. However, its influence cannot be compared with The Woman Warrior, mainly because it truly reveals the exploitation and oppression of the western mainstream culture. This phenomenon reflects that nowadays western cultural hegemony still exists and orientalism still controls the relationship between the east and the west.
引文
Chang, Chiung-huei-Joan. Transforming Chinese American Literature. New York:Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.,2000.
Cheung, King-Kok. Articulate Silences:Hisaye Yamamoto, Maxine Hong Kingston, Joy Kogawa. New York:Cornell University Press,1993.
Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger:An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London:Routledge & Kegan Paul,1996.
Duncan, Patti. Telling This Silence:Asian American Women Writers and the Politics of Speech. Iowa:the University of Iowa Press,2004.
Ferraro, Thomas J. Ethnic Passages:Literary Immigrants in Twentieth-Century America. Chicago:The University of Chicago Press,1993.
Foucault, Michel. Power/Knowledge:Selected Interviews and Other Things 1972-1977. Ed. Colin Gordon. Trans. Colin Gordon, et al. New York:Pantheon Books,1980.
Gao, Yan. The Art of Parody:Maxine Hong Kingston's Use of Chinese Sources. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.,1996.
Goellnicht, Donald C. "Tang Ao in America:Male Subject Positions in China Men". Reading the Literatures of Asian America. Eds. Shirley Geork-lin Lim and Amy Ling. Philadelphia:Temple University Press,1992.
Gordon, Mary. "Introduction". The Woman Warrior & China Men. New York:Everyman's Library,2005.
Harris, Marvin. Good to Eat:Riddles of Food and Culture. New York:Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Hattori, Tomo. "China Man Autoeroticism and the Remains of Asian America." Novel,31 (Spring 1998):216-234.
Huntley, E. D. Maxine Hong Kingston:A Critical Companion. Westport:Greenwood Press, 2001.
Hutcheon, Linda. A Poetics of Postmodernism:History, Theory, Fiction. New York: Routledge,1988.
Islas, Arturo. "Interview with Maxine Hong Kingston," in Conversation with Maxine Hong Kingston. Eds., Paul Skenazy and Tera Martin. Jackson:University Press of Mississippi,1998.
JanMohamed, Abdul & David Lloyd. The Nature and Context of Minority Discourse. New York:Oxford University Press,1990.
Kane, Penny. Famine in China,1959-61:Demographic and Social Implications. Basingstoke, Hampshire:Macmillan Pr. Ltd.,1988.
Kim, Elaine H. "Visions and Fierce Dreams:A Commentary on the Works of Maxine Hong Kingston". Asian American Women Writers. ED. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia:Chelsea House Publishers,1997.
Kingston, Maxine Hong. China Men. New York:Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.,1980.
Li, David Leiwei. Imagining the Nation:Asian-American Literature and Cultural Consent. Stanford:Stanford University Press,1998.---- "Revising American Literary Classics:Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men". Foreign Literature 4,1993.
Lin, Yutang. My Country and My People. Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2000.
Linton, Patricia.'"What stories the Wind Would Tell':Representation and Appropriation in Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men". MELUS 19.4 (1994):37-48.
Miller, Stuart Creighton. The Unwelcome Immigrants:The American Image of the Chinese, 1785-1882. Berkeley:University of California Press,1974.
Nishime, LeiLani. "Engendering Genre:Gender and Nationalism in China Men and The Woman Warrior." MELUS21.1(1995):67-82.
O'Neil, Mary R. "Superstition." The Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Mircea Eliade. New York:Macmillan Publishing Company,1987.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York:Vintage Books,1979.
Said, Edward W. "Orientalism Reconsidered" in Postcolonial Criticism, ed. B.M Gilbert. Beijing:Peking University Press,2001.
Schueller, Malini Johar. The Politics of Voice:Liberalism and Social Criticism from Franklin to Kingston. Albany:State University of New York Press,1992.
Shan, Dexin. Ground-breaking and Path-making:Chinese American Literature and Culture. Tianjin:Nankai University Press,2006.
Skenazy, Paul. "Coming Home." Conversations with Maxine Hong Kingston, ed. Paul Skenazy and Tera Martin. Jackson:University Press of Mississippi,1998.
Sledge, Linda Ching. "Maxine Kingston's China Men:the Family Historian as Epic Poet". MELUS 7.4 (1980):3-22.
Wang, Jennnie. The Iron Curtain of Language:Maxine Hong Kingston and American Orientalism. Shang Hai:FuDan University Press,2007.
Williams, David Rhys. The Image of the Chinese in American Drama to 1925. Diss. Cornell University,1994.
程裕祯。《中国文化要略》。北京：外语教学与研究出版社,1998.
麦礼谦。《从华侨到华人：二十世纪美国华人社会发展史》。黄运基序。香港：三联书店,1992.
潘志明。唐敖的子孙们—试论《中国佬》华裔男性的属性建构与语言传统。当代外国文学,2003年第三期。
袁贵仁。《价值观的理论与实践》。北京：北京师范大学出版社,2003.
张敬钰(King-Kok Cheung),单德兴译。说故事：汤亭亭《金山勇士》中的对抗记忆(Talk-Story:Counter-Memory in Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men).文化属性与华裔美国文学。单德兴、何文敬主编。台北：“中央研究院”欧美研究所,1994.
钟科文&杜镇远。《现代迷信分析》。北京：社会科学文献出版社,2002.
朱永涛。《美国价值观—一个中国学者的探讨》。北京：外语教学与研究出版社,2002.
Cheung, King-Kok. Articulate Silences:Hisaye Yamamoto, Maxine Hong Kingston, Joy Kogawa. New York:Cornell University Press,1993.
Douglas, Mary. Purity and Danger:An Analysis of Concepts of Pollution and Taboo. London:Routledge & Kegan Paul,1996.
Duncan, Patti. Telling This Silence:Asian American Women Writers and the Politics of Speech. Iowa:the University of Iowa Press,2004.
Ferraro, Thomas J. Ethnic Passages:Literary Immigrants in Twentieth-Century America. Chicago:The University of Chicago Press,1993.
Foucault, Michel. Power/Knowledge:Selected Interviews and Other Things 1972-1977. Ed. Colin Gordon. Trans. Colin Gordon, et al. New York:Pantheon Books,1980.
Gao, Yan. The Art of Parody:Maxine Hong Kingston's Use of Chinese Sources. New York: Peter Lang Publishing, Inc.,1996.
Goellnicht, Donald C. "Tang Ao in America:Male Subject Positions in China Men". Reading the Literatures of Asian America. Eds. Shirley Geork-lin Lim and Amy Ling. Philadelphia:Temple University Press,1992.
Gordon, Mary. "Introduction". The Woman Warrior & China Men. New York:Everyman's Library,2005.
Harris, Marvin. Good to Eat:Riddles of Food and Culture. New York:Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Hattori, Tomo. "China Man Autoeroticism and the Remains of Asian America." Novel,31 (Spring 1998):216-234.
Huntley, E. D. Maxine Hong Kingston:A Critical Companion. Westport:Greenwood Press, 2001.
Hutcheon, Linda. A Poetics of Postmodernism:History, Theory, Fiction. New York: Routledge,1988.
Islas, Arturo. "Interview with Maxine Hong Kingston," in Conversation with Maxine Hong Kingston. Eds., Paul Skenazy and Tera Martin. Jackson:University Press of Mississippi,1998.
JanMohamed, Abdul & David Lloyd. The Nature and Context of Minority Discourse. New York:Oxford University Press,1990.
Kane, Penny. Famine in China,1959-61:Demographic and Social Implications. Basingstoke, Hampshire:Macmillan Pr. Ltd.,1988.
Kim, Elaine H. "Visions and Fierce Dreams:A Commentary on the Works of Maxine Hong Kingston". Asian American Women Writers. ED. Harold Bloom. Philadelphia:Chelsea House Publishers,1997.
Kingston, Maxine Hong. China Men. New York:Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.,1980.
Li, David Leiwei. Imagining the Nation:Asian-American Literature and Cultural Consent. Stanford:Stanford University Press,1998.---- "Revising American Literary Classics:Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men". Foreign Literature 4,1993.
Lin, Yutang. My Country and My People. Beijing:Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press,2000.
Linton, Patricia.'"What stories the Wind Would Tell':Representation and Appropriation in Maxine Hong Kingston's China Men". MELUS 19.4 (1994):37-48.
Miller, Stuart Creighton. The Unwelcome Immigrants:The American Image of the Chinese, 1785-1882. Berkeley:University of California Press,1974.
Nishime, LeiLani. "Engendering Genre:Gender and Nationalism in China Men and The Woman Warrior." MELUS21.1(1995):67-82.
O'Neil, Mary R. "Superstition." The Encyclopedia of Religion. Ed. Mircea Eliade. New York:Macmillan Publishing Company,1987.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York:Vintage Books,1979.
Said, Edward W. "Orientalism Reconsidered" in Postcolonial Criticism, ed. B.M Gilbert. Beijing:Peking University Press,2001.
Schueller, Malini Johar. The Politics of Voice:Liberalism and Social Criticism from Franklin to Kingston. Albany:State University of New York Press,1992.
Shan, Dexin. Ground-breaking and Path-making:Chinese American Literature and Culture. Tianjin:Nankai University Press,2006.
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