Social and Cultural Alienation in Toni Morrison's "Tar Baby"

湯妮．莫里森是美國當代最重要的作家之一。她的作品描述非裔美國人受苦受難、奮鬥與尋求超越的過程，成功地再現美國黑人的歷史與文化，並且豐富了美國文學的內涵。〈瀝青孩兒〉是莫里森的第四本小說，不如其他作品那樣受到重視與討論。原因在於作者在這本小說中，對於黑人應該採取強勢文化的價值觀，或是認同傳統非洲文化，沒有表達較為明確的看法。本研究主張〈瀝青孩兒〉代表莫里森追尋非裔美國人美好生活的一個過渡時期，藉由檢視個人在選擇同化或回歸傳統之間所遭遇的困境，顯示過程當中的複雜性與模糊性。作品裡的男主角全力捍衛傳統文化，卻因而與資本主義社會疏離，甚至被邊緣化。但是，他所認同的傳統社會卻是既貧窮又落後。女主角的情況則剛好相反，她接受的是白人的教育，採取其價值觀，樂於過著都市裡中產階級的生活，但由於和自身的文化疏離，時而感到不安與孤獨。但是從女性主義的觀點來看，女主角背離自身的根源似乎又情有可原，因為她是在抗拒非洲男性民族主義加諸女性的傳統角色。小說中兩個主角互相吸引，卻因為各自代表一種形式的疏離，終究無法結合。如同書名所暗示，莫里森認為需要有某種像瀝青一樣的東西來凝聚人與事物，但誰才是這個〈瀝青孩兒〉？莫里森把問題彰顯出來，留給讀者去思索答案。

關鍵字

疏離；資本主義；階級；去殖民化

並列摘要

Toni Morrison is one of the most important contemporary American writers. By describing African-American people's suffering, struggling, and transcending, she has successfully recreated the history and culture of black people and enriched the content of American literature. ”Tar Baby”, Morrison's fourth novel, did not receive so much attention as other novels. The main reason is that the novel did not provide a definite answer about whether black people should adopt the values of the dominant culture or identify with traditional African culture. This study argues that Tar Baby represents a transitional phase in Morrison's pursuit of African-American people's better way of life. By examining individual's predicament of choosing to be assimilated or to return to tradition, Morrison shows the complexity and ambiguity involved in the process. The predicament is best manifested in the major characters' alienation from the society and the culture. The black young man Son upheld traditional culture with all his effort. But, he was alienated from and marginalized in the capitalist society; the traditional community he identified with was backward and underdeveloped economically. In contrast, Jadine adopted the values of white culture and enjoyed her middle-class life in the city. But, she felt unsafe for having being estranged from her culture. Viewed from feminist perspective, her estrangement seems sympathetic as it was women's revolt against the male nationalism in the black community. The two characters represent two different kinds of alienation, which eventually separate the pair of lovers. As the title of the novel suggests, Morrison believes there should be some kind of element to ”hold” things or people ”together.” But, who is the tar baby? Morrison just posed the problem and left it to the reader to figure out the answer.