- 學位論文
族裔與國籍之間：論凱莉．楊《袍》中的身分轉變
Between Chinese Ethnicity and Jamaican Nationality: On the Transformation of Identities in Kerry Young’s Pao
摘要
本論文試以身分認同的流動性與在政治、歷史脈絡下的可建構性為前提，探討身分發展與轉變情形，並著重於族裔與國籍認同的分析。內文將藉由解析小說《袍》(Pao)中兩位華裔移民角色的身分轉變，闡釋作者凱莉．楊(Kerry Young)筆下的牙買加華人離散經驗及角色的身分認同受到牙買加後殖民社會之影響。 第一章從牙買加華人的移民經驗與社群在二十世紀初的發展切入，解釋當時牙買加社會文化背景對早期華人移民的族裔與社群觀念之影響；接著分析書中移民角色張氏對身分認同的本質論看法及其所體現的傳統「中國性」對移民經驗的影響。 第二章則剖析族裔與中國性等觀念在意義上的逐漸轉變以及國籍認同的發展。藉由分析主角楊袍的異質身分認同，闡述牙買加獨立及建國前後的社會文化環境如何影響該角色產生牙買加國籍認同，並探究華人族裔認同如何轉變為楊袍在牙買加身分下的附屬認同。 第三章將透過分析楊袍對自身歸屬感所展現的隱約不安，以及比較其國家主義式的樂觀理想與非裔角色葛洛利雅對社會環境與階級差異等更為務實的不同觀點，探討作者隱含於文本主要敘述之外、對族裔國家主義等國族建構敘事的疑慮與批判。 總結以上論述，本論文試以牙買加華人經驗為切入點，探究移民書寫中所呈現身分認同與其觀念之轉變。
並列摘要
This research analyzes the Chinese migrant characters in Jamaican writer Kerry Young’s novel Pao in order to investigate the change in identity as a constructive quality within the historical and political contexts where it is acquired and further developed. Focusing on two of its many aspects, namely ethnicity and nationality, I will demonstrate how the author depicts the distinctive experiences and changing identities of Chinese migrants under the social and political transformations in postcolonial Jamaica. Chapter One investigates the sociocultural situations and identity of Chinese migrants in Jamaica first in the context of the country’s colonial and migration history in the early twentieth century, from which the common notions of ethnic identities and communities are developed. After that, the essentialist view of “Chineseness” and ethnicity is examined through a close analysis of the migrant character, Zhang. Chapter Two focuses on the changing meanings of Chineseness and ethnic identities for later Chinese Jamaicans, as well as the gradual emergence of their Jamaican national identity influenced by Jamaica’s sociopolitical atmosphere during the later twentieth century. The chapter analyzes the heterogeneous identity of the novel’s protagonist Yang Pao and demonstrates how Jamaica’s nation building process influences both the acquiring of Pao’s Jamaican national identity and the development of his subsidiary Chinese ethnic identity. Finally, in Chapter Three, I discuss some problems behind Pao’s seemingly optimistic vision of Jamaica’s multicultural society and his own position in it. Through examining both the novel’s depiction of Pao’s precarious feelings in relation to the post-independent social atmosphere, and some issues of social inequalities made clear by comparisons between the viewpoints of Pao and the Afro-Jamaican character Gloria, the chapter demonstrates how the author offers a different perspective into the narrative of nation building and national identities. This thesis investigates problems of identity through an example of Chinese Jamaican experiences, and thereby seeks to provide a new perspective into the study of migrant and diasporic writings.