＂The Worst Pariah＂: Schizophrenia and Racism in Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange

「賤民中的賤民」：喬‧彭侯之《藍色／橘色》中的思覺失調症與種族歧視

施純宜(SHIH Chun-Yi)

《中山人文學報》 45期 (2018/07) Pp. 77-95

摘要

This paper aims to explore the representation of schizophrenia in Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange (2000) by investigating the connection between schizophrenia and racism. The play is concerned with Christopher, a young black man who was arrested by the police because of his misconduct in public and is about to be released after his 28 days of observation in a hospital in London. However, the psychiatrist in charge, Bruce, intends to keep Christopher longer because he suspects him of being a paranoid schizophrenic. Bruce's consultant, Robert, simply wants to dismiss Christopher into Care in the Community. Robert accuses Bruce of being ethnocentric and attributes Christopher's condition to cultural difference. Vehement debates thus ensue between the doctors as to the exact diagnosis of Christopher and treatment. Employing the sociology of mental illness as theoretical framework, the paper has two main parts: the first part will look at the manifest schizophrenic symptoms in Christopher and unravel the main causation of his mental disorder, namely, the everyday racism he encounters; the second part will show how institutional racism is revealed in Bruce's paternal attitude towards Christopher and in Robert's diagnostic theory of cultural difference. Through its exploration of how racism affects a black man's psyche, this paper will attempt to expound Penhall's sociological account for high rates of schizophrenia among the African-Caribbean population in English society and present his call for recognition and understanding of the mental disease.

關鍵字

Joe Penhall ； Blue/Orange ； schizophrenia ； racism ； sociology of mental illness

並列摘要

本論文擬研究英國劇作家喬‧彭侯(Joe Penhall)在《藍色／橘色》(Blue/Orange)(2000)中對思覺失調症與種族歧視兩者關係的呈現。該劇以克里斯多福的故事為主，他是一位來自倫敦的非洲黑人，因為行為妨害風化，遭警方逮捕，在醫院進行二十八天的強制性觀察。觀察期滿的前一天，他的主治醫師，布魯斯，懷疑他患有思覺失調症，希望他能繼續留院診斷。布魯斯的督導，羅伯特，卻只想根據政府的保健政策，允許他出院回家，接受社區醫護人員的定期檢查。羅伯特質疑布魯斯因為民族優越感而忽略了克里斯多福的文化背景，導致誤診；他認為克里斯多福的狀況不過是文化差異的問題，兩位醫生於是展開激烈的論辯。本文主要分為兩部分：第一部分分析克里斯多福的主要病症，包括暴躁、幻聽和妄想，進而指出導致這些病症的主要原因，在於日常生活中所遭受的歧視和偏見；第二部分揭示醫療機構中的種族歧視，主要表現在布魯斯對克里斯多福如父親對孩子般的專制態度，以及羅伯特所堅持之文化差異的論點。透過對《藍色／橘色》中種族歧視對於黑人身心所造成影響之研究，本論文希望闡釋彭侯對英國社會中少數族裔罹患思覺失調症之議題的看法，及他期望大眾瞭解該精神疾病的懇切呼籲。

並列關鍵字

喬‧彭侯 ； 《藍色／橘色》 ； 思覺失調症 ； 種族歧視

參考文獻

“All In The Mind” (2003). BBC Radio 4, 18 Nov. (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qxx9).

“Being Black, Going Crazy?” (2016). BBC Media Centre, 27 Sept. (www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0482j61).

Billington, Michael (2016). “Review of Blue/Orange.” The Guardian, 20 May(https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/may/20/blue-orange-review-young-vic-mental-health-race).

Boles, William C.(2011).The Argumentative Theatre of Joe Penhall.London:McFarland.

Chung, Man Cheung(ed.)(2007).Reconceiving Schizophrenia.Oxford:Oxford University Press.