論暴力與身份認同：「後」九一一南亞裔英國小說研究

Of Violence and Identity:“Post”-9/11 South Asian British Fiction

廖培真(Pei-Chen Liao)

指導教授 ： 李有成

國立臺灣大學/文學院/外國語文學研究所/博士(2009年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2009.10005

摘要

在主流的後九一一論述中，字首「後」的使用是有問題的。首先，它表徵著前九一一、九一一、和後九一一的線性發展，進而使得前九一一時期成為美國純真的歷史，而後九一一則成為美國重建和恢復自信和安全的時代。第二，二元對立的時間軸線削弱權力二元對立之間的張力：反恐怖主義者對抗恐怖主義者，儘管如冷戰時期所呈現的，二者間的差別卻是微乎其微。第三，「後九一一」這個詞暗示九一一不只是世界重大事件，更是二十一世紀的決定性標記。在此美國時間的標記下，世界無數文化和國家都成為次要的。最後，「後九一一」作為形容詞，其前面的限定冠詞迫使多元性成為單一性。在此狀況下，世界被單一地區分為恐怖主義和反恐怖主義，使得其他更多不同形式的暴力和衝突相對地被漠視了。本論文因此在使用「後」九一一這個詞時，將其「置於抹拭之下」。
在研究四本「後」九一一南亞裔英國小說的同時，本論文致力於東方主義、後殖民和全球化理論，以及南亞文化研究。本論文有二個目標。局部目標是要揭露美國柔性帝國主義和西方自戀的暴力。研究的小說包含有Salman Rushdie的《小丑薩里曼（Shalimar the Clown）》、Hari Kunzru的《傳播（Transmission）》、Monica Ali的《紅磚巷（Brick Lane）》以及Mohsin Hamid的《拉合爾茶館的陌生人（The Reluctant Fundamentalist）》。這些小說是「後」九一一的，因為他們關心並創作於九一一的餘波中，然而他們也是前九一一和反九一一的。在再現九一一事件的詭魅以及反恐戰爭的全球性狂暴衝擊的同時，這些南亞裔英國作家跳脫標記九一一日期的政治權術，具體描繪移民的「家園不再」，並藉著容納本土和區域的具體性，處理「後」九一一的多樣性。本論文的較為廣泛而複雜的目標則是要強調暴力和身份認同的矛盾連結，無論是從宗教或從群落、文化、國家、文明、階級和性別的觀點來看。移動（民）的小說人物角色的多重旅程、身份、和經驗，得以讓這些小說家在他們的故事中以跨國和跨文化的方式，探索九一一和反恐戰爭所隱含的暴力、性別及種族歧視、種族屠殺、納粹的猶太屠殺、反移民運動、和全球資本主義之間的關連。

關鍵字

「後」九一一 ； 南亞裔英國小說 ； 美國帝國主義 ； 西方自戀 ； 暴力 ； 身份認同 ； 全球化

並列摘要

The use of the prefix “post” in the dominant post-9/11 discourse is problematic. Firstly, it indicates a linear development from “pre-9/11,” “9/11,” to “post-9/11,” rendering the “pre-9/11” period a history of American innocence and “post-9/11” an era in which American confidence and security is being recovered and rebuilt. Secondly, the binary axis of time undercuts the tension in the binary axis of power—counter-terrorist vs. the terrorist, although the dichotomy is inadequately nuanced, as in the case of the Cold War. Thirdly, the term “post-9/11” hints at the presumption that 9/11 is not only a major world event but the determining marker of the twenty-first century, to which the world’s multitudinous cultures and countries are subordinated. Fourthly, “the” post-9/11 condition reduces multiplicity to singularity. Under the condition, the world is seen simply in terms of terrorism and anti-terrorism, and violence and conflict in its multiple forms are comparatively treated with indifference. My dissertation thus uses the term “post”-9/11 “under erasure.”
Reading four “post”-9/11 South Asian British novels, my dissertation is engaged with Orientalism, postcolonial and globalization theories, and South Asian cultural studies. It has two aims. At a smaller level, it endeavors to expose the violence of American benign imperialism and Western narcissism. The novels include Salman Rushdie’s Shalimar the Clown (2005), Hari Kunzru’s Transmission (2004), Monica Ali’s Brick Lane (2003), and Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2007). These novels are “post”-9/11 because they are concerned with and written in the aftermath of 9/11, yet they are pre-9/11 and anti-9/11, too. While representing the uncanniness of 9/11 and the global and violent impacts of the war on terror, these South Asian British writers reach beyond the politics of dating 9/11, delineate the “unhomely” migrant experience, and attend to the diversity of the “post”-9/11 by admitting local and regional specificity. At a broader and more complicated level, my dissertation aims to underscore the ambivalent link between violence and identity in terms of religion, community, culture, nation, civilization, class, or gender. The multiple journeys, identities, and experiences of the (im)migrant characters allow the novelists to explore transnationally and transculturally in their narratives the connection of the violence inherent in 9/11 and the war on terror with sexual and racial discrimination, ethnic cleansing, the Holocaust, anti-immigration movement, and global capitalism.

並列關鍵字

“post”-9/11 ； South Asian British fiction ； American imperialism ； Western narcissism ； violence ； identity ； globalization

參考文獻

Works Cited

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