翻譯中的女性：穆可杰<茉莉>中之移民身份認同

Woman in Translation: Immigrant Identity in Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine

詹嘉怡

指導教授 ： 莊坤良

國立臺灣師範大學/文學院/英語學系/碩士(2002年)

摘要

「茉莉」可視為印度裔作家穆可杰對移民精神給予最正面肯定之文本，主要探討遷移主體顛沛離散之經驗與女性自我成長之命題。本論文以當代翻譯理論和霍爾的文化認同為主軸，切入探討移民遷徙現象以及其對主體身份認同的影響。
本文分為五個章節，第一章包含後殖民作家如何挪用前殖民者之英語來反映本土的歷史和自我之主體性。另外對近代翻譯理論的流變也作一縱覽，探究移民遷徙所帶來文化翻譯之關係，進一步突顯文化因遷徙、翻譯、雜揉而產生新的契機。
第二章著力於穆可杰之文化地理介紹。由於穆可杰多重的離散經驗，使其國/家認同歷經巨變。而她的主張摒棄羈旅者局外的身份，擁護大融爐精神和同化的政治立場往往引來諸多爭議，甚至被第三世界評論家冠以「民族叛徒」之罪名。本論文藉文化翻譯的角度來呈現她個人移民的親身經驗，以及採取同化或堅持羈旅立場之得與失，希冀讀者能夠瞭解她堅信移民者必須同化的政治意識是如何成形，進而認知民族本質主義的謬誤。
第三章主要是根據同化的程度來分析三種不同移民模式。本論文直接挪用翻譯的意符，強調為了生存，移民主體自我改變的重要性，以及面臨文化雜化的必然性。因此，移民者應拋棄過去文化歷史對身份認同的羈絆，根據開放的空間方位來隨之重新調整自我的視野。
第四章著眼於新移民者與美國主流社會之間曖昧難明的互動關係，以及在白人種族主義的凝視下他們如何抗衡。同時揭露白人東方主義的慾望和焦慮，批判西方人道主義，此外本論文意圖檢視穆可杰對於印度父權體制的批評和母系力量的認可，進而劃分她與西方女性主義的立場差異。
第五章總結穆可杰秉持遷徙/翻譯的過程中自我重生的信念，藉由文化融合的激盪，來為僵化的傳統找尋新的生命。她主張移民主體應跳脫文化正宗性的迷思，在自由開放的空間內，不斷地反省魯西迪的問題：「如何在這世界中安身立命？」並能找到自己對應的答案。

並列摘要

Jasmine, the culmination of Bharati Mukherjee’s optimistic vision on immigration, is concerned with the migrant experiences and woman Bildungsroman. The thesis attempts to apply the contemporary translation theories and Stuart Hall’s cultural identity as the vortex to examine the phenomenon of displacement and its effect on migrant people.
Briefly, this study is divided into five chapters. The introductory chapter includes a survey of the power of English, appropriated by postcolonial writers to reflect the local particularities, and the changes in the cultural translation that will be employed to analyze the phenomenon of displacement.
Chapter Two is a brief survey of Mukherjee’s cultural heritages. Her rejection of expatriation and embracing American identity is constantly charged with the foul name of an “ethnic traitor.” By delving into the author’s immigrant history, I hope to present how her ideological formulation is shaped in order Mukherjee’s appropriation of native cultures and history in her novel Jasmineto justify her assimilative political stance.
The main concern of Chapter Three consists in the identity crisis in immigrant experience on the basis of Hall’s theory of cultural identity and the analysis of Mukherjee’s three modes of immigration. By the metaphor of translation, “bearing across” and “metamorphosis,” the thesis endorses the importance of change and hybridization for immigrant subjects. To achieve a meaningful relocation of immigrant identity, one has to reconsider one’s identity according to the change of location rather than sticking to the petrified past.
Chapter Four shifts the focus on the ambiguous interaction between nonwhite immigrants and the dominant white, and subtle tactics that immigrant people employ to fight against the gaze of the white racism. Through their interaction, the thesis also explores the author’s critical thinking on postcolonial themes such as the fallacy of Orientalism, Western imperialist intention under humanism. It also exposes the discrepancy between First World feminism and Mukherjee’s brand of feminist concerns.
The concluding chapter is an affirmation of literary achievement of Mukherjee who advocates the gain from the act of translation / migration and celebrates racial and cultural mongrelization. She urges immigrant people to wake up from the myth of authenticity and purity. Only through the relocation of immigrant identity can they find resolutions to the question: “How are we to live in the world” (Imaginary Homeland 17)?

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