超越陽具：安潔拉‧卡特《新夏娃的激情》與《明智的小孩》中愛的倫理
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2009
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本論文試圖探討安潔拉．卡特在《新夏娃的激情》與《明智的小孩》兩本晚期小說中所呈現之愛的倫理。援引精神分析理論中愛的論述，亦即佛洛依德的自戀愛、拉岡的幻象愛與真愛、以及依蕊格萊的倫理/陰性愛，本文一方面主張安潔拉．卡特與拉岡一脈相承，在探尋於父權世界的同時，穿越父權幻象，引導我們解構父權社會虛構文本並赤裸呈現出男(陽)性主體性與愛/慾中最深層的黑核。在另一方面，本文也指出卡特不同於拉岡，她並沒將自己侷限於陽具中心思考的邏輯裡。相反地，如同依蕊格萊，卡特勇於超越陽具(the phallus)、超越父權體系中普及的思維模式。藉由努力重建陰母性(feminine-maternal)關係與協議出陰性愛，她希望能催生出一種不同於陽具模式的交換經濟，亦即「愛的倫理」。經由爬梳卡特在此兩本小說中的愛的倫理，本論文意圖對於卡特整個「解神話」(demytholgizing)的寫作事業提供一個更為完整與清楚的視野。在她的寫作中，卡特不僅僅只試圖解構父權社會虛構文本的神話，同時也力圖提出一種以「愛」為基礎的陰性「自我與他者」關係模式。除此之外，藉由閱讀佛洛依德、拉岡、依蕊格萊與卡特對於愛的論述，本論文也希望拼湊出一種「愛的倫理」的雛型，幫助我們解決當今人類社會中，由於強調認同身分政治中的「同」，而產生於不同種族、族裔、階級、語言、國家與宗教團體裡的緊張衝突與互弒傾向。
全文分為五章。序論簡短介紹與回顧卡特自稱的「解神話事業」。第一章仔細探討與界定何謂佛洛依德的自戀愛，拉岡的幻象愛與真愛，以及依蕊格萊的倫理/陰性愛，藉此建立閱讀卡特兩本小說的理論框架。第二章試圖將《新夏娃的激情》讀成卡特穿越父權幻象的力作。在這部小說中，卡特揭露父權社會中，女(陰)性的虛構本質、男(陽)性的無能、男(陽)性主體性的空無與男(陽)性愛/慾裡的自戀結構。本章結尾將重點放在卡特在小說末尾重建陰母性關係的強烈企圖。第三章將《明智的小孩》視為卡特超越陽具的作品。在此部小說裡，卡特不僅穿越與刺穿了支撐父權體系中男(陽)性慾望經濟以及人際關係結構中「同一」的幻象。更重要的是，藉由描繪欠思(Chance)家族女人以及她們間彼此的關係，卡特闡述了陰(女)性的(互為)主體性，並催生以「愛」為基礎的陰性模式人際關係。結論重申，從愛的倫理的角度來閱讀卡特小說，不僅可以讓我們更了解卡特的解神話事業，同時也提供我們一種「彼此互惠」的人我關係雛型，面對與解決在人類不同的文化脈絡中普遍存在的不平等。
This thesis aims to explore Carter’s ethics of love from her two late novels, The Passion of New Eve and Wise Children. Reading these two novels in light of psychoanalytical love discourses, namely, Freud’s narcissistic love, Lacan’s fantasy love and real love, as well as Irigaray’s ethical/feminine love, I would like to argue that Carter, in the same line with Lacan, leads us to navigate the patriarchal world, at the same time traverse the patriarchal fantasies, ultimately deconstructing the patriarchal social fictions and laying bare the dark kernel of masculine subjectivity and love/desire. Moreover in contrast to Lacan, Carter does not restrict herself to the phallocentric logic of thought. On the contrary, she, like Irigaray, courageously moves beyond the phallus, the prevailing mode of thinking in the patriarchy, and endeavors to re-build the feminine-maternal relation and negotiate the feminine love in the hope to bring forth an alternative economy of exchange other than the phallic one—“an ethics of love.” By teasing out Carter’s ethics of love from her novels, this thesis intends to offer a more complete and clear view of Carter’s whole demythologizing business of writing, with which she does not only aim to demythologize the patriarchal social fictions but also endeavors to propose a feminine mode of self-other relations based on “love.” Besides, through a reading of love discourses in Freud, Lacan, Irigaray and Carter, this thesis also hopes to map out a model of “loving ethics,” which may help resolve the intense conflicts and the cannibalistic tendency arising out of the identity politics of “the same” between groups of different race, ethnicity, class, language, nation, and religion in the contemporary human society. The thesis consists of five chapters: the introduction provides a brief survey of Carter’s self-claimed “demythologizing business.” Chapter One investigates in detail Freud’s narcissistic love, Lacan’s two kinds of love, and Irigaray’s ethical/feminine love, which serve as the theoretical framework in my reading of Carter’s two novels. Chapter Two reads The Passion of New Eve as Carter’s traversal of patriarchal fantasies, in which she lays bare the fictitious nature of femininity, the impotence of masculinity, the void of masculine subjectivity and the narcissistic structure of masculine love/desire. This chapter ends with Carter’s demonstration of her strong intention to re-build the feminine-maternal relations near the end of the novel. Chapter Three scrutinizes Wise Children as Carter’s moving beyond the phallus, in which she does not simply perforates the illusion of the one that sustains the masculine economy of desire and the competitive and self-same structure of human relationship in the patriarchy. Most importantly, her portrayal of the Chance women and their relationship with others obviously discloses her ambition to develop the feminine (inter-)subjectivity and bring forth a feminine mode of human relationship based on “love.” The conclusion reiterates the importance of studying the ethics of love in Carter’s two novels along with the love discourses in psychoanalysis. The study provides us with not only a better understanding of Carter’s demythologizing business but also a model of “reciprocity” to confront and resolve the prevalent human inequalities in various cultural contexts.
This thesis aims to explore Carter’s ethics of love from her two late novels, The Passion of New Eve and Wise Children. Reading these two novels in light of psychoanalytical love discourses, namely, Freud’s narcissistic love, Lacan’s fantasy love and real love, as well as Irigaray’s ethical/feminine love, I would like to argue that Carter, in the same line with Lacan, leads us to navigate the patriarchal world, at the same time traverse the patriarchal fantasies, ultimately deconstructing the patriarchal social fictions and laying bare the dark kernel of masculine subjectivity and love/desire. Moreover in contrast to Lacan, Carter does not restrict herself to the phallocentric logic of thought. On the contrary, she, like Irigaray, courageously moves beyond the phallus, the prevailing mode of thinking in the patriarchy, and endeavors to re-build the feminine-maternal relation and negotiate the feminine love in the hope to bring forth an alternative economy of exchange other than the phallic one—“an ethics of love.” By teasing out Carter’s ethics of love from her novels, this thesis intends to offer a more complete and clear view of Carter’s whole demythologizing business of writing, with which she does not only aim to demythologize the patriarchal social fictions but also endeavors to propose a feminine mode of self-other relations based on “love.” Besides, through a reading of love discourses in Freud, Lacan, Irigaray and Carter, this thesis also hopes to map out a model of “loving ethics,” which may help resolve the intense conflicts and the cannibalistic tendency arising out of the identity politics of “the same” between groups of different race, ethnicity, class, language, nation, and religion in the contemporary human society. The thesis consists of five chapters: the introduction provides a brief survey of Carter’s self-claimed “demythologizing business.” Chapter One investigates in detail Freud’s narcissistic love, Lacan’s two kinds of love, and Irigaray’s ethical/feminine love, which serve as the theoretical framework in my reading of Carter’s two novels. Chapter Two reads The Passion of New Eve as Carter’s traversal of patriarchal fantasies, in which she lays bare the fictitious nature of femininity, the impotence of masculinity, the void of masculine subjectivity and the narcissistic structure of masculine love/desire. This chapter ends with Carter’s demonstration of her strong intention to re-build the feminine-maternal relations near the end of the novel. Chapter Three scrutinizes Wise Children as Carter’s moving beyond the phallus, in which she does not simply perforates the illusion of the one that sustains the masculine economy of desire and the competitive and self-same structure of human relationship in the patriarchy. Most importantly, her portrayal of the Chance women and their relationship with others obviously discloses her ambition to develop the feminine (inter-)subjectivity and bring forth a feminine mode of human relationship based on “love.” The conclusion reiterates the importance of studying the ethics of love in Carter’s two novels along with the love discourses in psychoanalysis. The study provides us with not only a better understanding of Carter’s demythologizing business but also a model of “reciprocity” to confront and resolve the prevalent human inequalities in various cultural contexts.
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安潔拉．卡特, 愛的倫理, 拉岡, 依蕊格萊, 佛洛依德, 自戀愛, 幻象愛, 真愛, 倫理/陰性愛, 父權幻象, 《新夏娃的激情》, 《明智的小孩》, Carter, Angela, an Ethics of Love, Lacan, Irigaray, Freud, Narcissistic Love, Fantasy Love, Real Love, Ethical/Feminine Love, Patriarchal Fantasies, The Passion of New Eve, Wise Children