馬來西亞一夫多妻制下穆斯林女性的婚姻實踐

本研究主要以馬來西亞雪蘭莪和吉隆坡區域（簡稱雪隆區）的個案來探討現代一夫多妻制下穆斯林女性的婚姻認知與實踐歷程。透過深度訪談法蒐集相關資料，其中訪問到的研究對象有8名first wives以及6名co-wives，本研究發現，一夫多妻制下的穆斯林女性具有「現代性」的特質，雖然擺蕩於現代與傳統價值之間，但主要維繫的還是以一夫一妻為理想的核心價值觀。一夫多妻制在馬來西亞伊斯蘭社會中，除了非穆斯林社會不受認可外，也存在於穆斯林社會內部，即伊斯蘭傳統主義與伊斯蘭女性主義之間，兩造價值的對峙，使得一夫多妻制課題被操作為兩性議題來辯論，一夫多妻制下的女性因而成了必然的受害者。然而，事實確實如此嗎？針對馬來西亞一夫多妻制下穆斯林女性相關的經驗性研究，其實十分缺乏。因此，為了彌補此一缺失，本研究藉此探討一夫多妻制下穆斯林女性的婚姻家庭認知以及實踐歷程。同時，本研究希望透過雪隆區個案呈現的「現代性」來說明一夫多妻制下的女性不必然就是受父權壓迫的受害群體，進而為一夫多妻制的課題提出有別於性別的觀點。章節安排方面，本文首先在〈緒論〉交代了研究的背景、動機、問題、目的、研究概況、文獻探討、研究範圍與限制以及方法與個案的選擇。文獻探討的部分主要對「現代性」婚姻的理論進行闡述，並與概念化婚姻認知與實踐歷程的操作作一結合。第一章是〈馬來西亞一夫多妻制的歷史文化背景〉，主要敘述的是馬來西亞當代社會一夫多妻制的歷史與發展概況。本研究透過蒐集到的訪談資料，進而對她們的婚姻認知與實踐歷程作出歸納：第二章至第四章處理的分別是研究對象工具理性的婚姻動機、協議式的婚姻關係以及想像的自由的新價值。第五章進入〈結論〉的部分，納入「現代性」的鉅視理論作為解釋她們現代的婚姻實踐。

關鍵字

一夫多妻制；穆斯林女性；婚姻認知；婚姻實踐；現代性；傳統

並列摘要

This study deals with the polygynous Muslim women's marriage views and practices in the state of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. After in-depth interview with a total of 8 first wives and 6 co-wives, this study finds that the Muslim women possess "modernity" and having to struggle between modernity and tradition. Yet, the core value of monogamy is still perceived as an ideal form. In Malaysia, polygyny is unrecognized by the non-Muslims. Whereas among the Muslims themselves, it results in two opposing ideologies, the Fundamentalism and the Feminism, that rarely stir any dialogues or any agreement. It leads to a confrontation when the issue of polygyny is being debated as a gender issue. At this stage, polygynous women turn out to be ultimate victims. Questions regarding why Muslim women opt for polygyny, their marriage lifestyle and marriage views are still in short of empirical studies. Thus, the objective of this study aims to fill up such shortage. At the same time, based on the "modernity" shown from the case study, this study aims to bring about new perspective despite gender perspective, by illustrating that the polygynous women are not necessarily victimized by an oppression of patriarchy. Overall, there are six chapters in this thesis. The introductory chapter explains the background, motivation, research question, objectivity, literature review, research limitation and scope, and research method of the study. In the part of literature review, the concept of "modernity" is discussed, and it is combined with the conceptualization of marriage and family perceptions and practices. First chapter narrates briefly the history and development of polygyny in the contemporary Malaysia. Through analysis of interviews, study identified few themes and assigned to the following chapters: the instrumental-rationality marriage motives in chapter 2, the agreement type of marriage relationship in chapter 3 and the new value, the "imaginary freedom" in chapter 4. Lastly in chapter 5, the conclusion, my study will apply the concept of modernity in further explanation of their polygynous marriage views and practices.