越過藩籬：古雷希的《黑色專輯》、《郊野佛陀》和《我的美麗洗衣店》中的移動性

Abstract

本論文旨在討論哈尼夫•古雷希《黑色專輯》、《郊野佛陀》和《我的美麗洗衣店》中的移動性—被邊緣化的移民藉由身體的移動參與英國社會的轉型。本論文藉由討論古雷希自身經驗與他刻劃巴基斯坦移民在英國的移民經驗，延伸研究移民如何透過反抗性的移動挑戰刻板印象將個體身分僵化，並分別在種族、性別及社會階級分化上著墨。小說中的文化混種的主角拒絕被社會分類所約束，並利用其移動性穿梭於不同的社會群體間，進而於英國強勢白人文化中表達自我差異及立場。本文檢視古雷希的作品啟發個體永遠多重身分的可能性。本論文利用德勒茲、瓜達希、巴特勒及鮑曼的理論為研究框架，分為五個章節。第一章回顧古雷希為二代移民的成長背景，並連結其背景與作者筆下角色的反傳統思想，此外，此章節重新定義「移動性」且揭開其對抗不平等與約束的潛在能力。第二章利用德勒茲與瓜達希的游牧理論深入剖析《黑色唱片》中夏依(Shahid)變動的思想，分析他的移動、變動性如何破壞整個種族群體和英國社會強加在他身上單一的身分解釋。夏依具體化理論中的游牧民，拒絕屈服於任何一極端民族主義。第三章試圖援引巴特勒的性別展演理論討論《郊野佛陀》中顛覆的性別角色，揭露傳統的性別定義無法繼續滿足移動中的現代社會。透過卡林(Karim)和其他人物跨性別、跨種族的性行為，刻板印象的性別角色有機會被質疑且重新分配。第四章將檢視《我的美麗洗衣店》中社會階級的流動移動，利用鮑曼的流動的現代性理論探討主角奧瑪(Omar)與白人強尼(Johnny)二人的社經地位，如何在柴契爾(Thatcher)執政的英國社會下變動。隨著社會逐漸增加的不安全感、不確定性與個體性發展，固有的社會階級將走向崩解。第五章為結論，綜論古雷希文本中所呈現的移民與二代移民試圖逃脫安定，尋找自我的慾望，並歸結出移動性係由不斷追尋安定和改變之兩項交替所產生，為了完整個人身分認同。因為此尋找行為持續不斷，移動性將成為社會轉型的重大關鍵之一。My thesis takes mobility in Hanif Kureishi’s The Black Album, The Buddha of Suburbia, and My Beautiful Laundrette—namely, the marginalized immigrants’ physical moving and the transformation of Britain’s social contexts—as the research objects. I hope to further investigate what effects the immigrants’ resistant moving brings about against stereotypical discriminations, ethnic, gender, and class differentiations in particular. In this thesis, I aim to explore that one is able to fight against being pinned down into fixed social categories and articulate his/her differences through performing the potential of mobility. My concern here is to see how Kureishi’s works open up the possibilities of having alternative identities rather than sticking to the designated one. Based on Deleuze and Guattari’s, Butler’s, and Bauman’s theories, my thesis consists of five chapters. The introductory chapter provides an overview of Kureishi’s background and the connections between the author’s personal experience of moving as an Asian British and his characters’ anti-traditional actions. This chapter also redefines the term of mobility and formulates its resistant power against inequality and constraints. In Chapter Two, I parallel Shahid’s mobility in The Black Album with Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of nomadology and argue that Shahid’s unsettled mind and mobile thoughts are crucial to destructing the single definition of his ethnic identity. He embodies Deleuze and Guattari’s nomad who refuses to submit himself to any polarized cultural nationalism. Chapter Three looks at the ambiguous gender identities and mobile sexuality of Karim and other characters in The Buddha of Suburbia. I try to explore that the legitimate gender categories are unnatural and insufficient for this mobile modern world with Butler’s theory of gender performativity. Escaping the constitution of coercive reiteration and collective experiences through time, gender roles of the characters seem to be redistributed. Chapter Four examines how Omar and Johnny in My Beautiful Laundrette reverse their social positions in the era of Thatcherism. Bauman’s theory of liquid modernity explicitly scrutinizes the modern world in which the concept of solid class has been shattered due to people’s increasing insecurity, uncertainty, unsafety toward life and identity, and their individuality to change the allocated social status and rank. Finally, I ponder on the alteration of desires both for settlement and for changes in modern world as the major force to impel people to pursue completeness of their identity. Due to the constant pursuit, mobility will keep its vital role in social transformation.