介於「她鄉」與「他鄉」之間：夏綠蒂•吉爾曼《她鄉》之探討

Between Herland and Hisland: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Herland

洪銘利(Ming-li Hung)

指導教授 ： 李秀娟

國立臺灣師範大學/文學院/英語學系/碩士(2001年)

摘要

夏綠蒂·吉爾曼是美國文壇十九、二十世紀之交著名的女性主義理論家及作家之一。《她鄉》是吉爾曼最為大家所熟知的烏托邦小說，其中呈現出許多她在其他非小說作品中所提出的社會改革思想和計劃。吉爾曼藉由描寫三位美國男子至女人國的探險之旅，批判了當今人類社會中的性別傳統。在我的論文中，我視「她鄉」為一女性烏托邦，而我探討的重心在於烏托邦的特質及吉爾曼如何批判現今社會性別區分的現象。第一章大略介紹烏托邦小說的歷史及烏托邦的特質。第二章檢視吉爾曼如何顛覆我們對女性特質的傳統看法。在一個沒有男人的國度中，她讓我們看到了女人的多樣發展。緊接第二章，第三章檢視吉爾曼如何諷刺及改寫我們對男性特質的傳統看法。在這章中，我將討論「她鄉人」如何看待這三位美國男子及「她鄉人」對男人的期望。第四章則探討「她鄉」中的暴力及階級問題。在這章中，我將驗證「她鄉」裡其他形式的迫害及剝削並不因性別消失而不存在。第五章則探討烏托邦的「疆界」問題以及它和吉爾曼批判性別傳統的關連。簡單來說，在我的論文?堙A除了檢視吉爾曼如何改寫傳統性別角色外，我同時也試圖找出「她鄉」和人類社會相同的缺失及不足之處。

關鍵字

夏綠蒂•吉爾曼 ； 她鄉 ； 女性烏托邦 ； 女性特質 ； 男性特質 ； 母職 ； 父職 ； 性別關係

並列摘要

Charlotte Perkins Gilman was one of the famous feminist theoreticians and writers in American literary circles at the turn of the twentieth century. Herland is Gilman’s best-known utopian novel, and it represents her many thoughts and projects about social reform suggested in her nonfiction works. By describing an expedition of three American men into an all-female nation, Gilman criticizes gender traditions in human society. In my thesis, I read Gilman’s Herland as a feminist utopia, and my chief concern is the essence of utopia and Gilman’s critique of the binary gender division. Chapter One is devoted to a survey of the history and features of utopia. Chapter Two looks into how Gilman subverts our conventional concept of femininity. Her imaginary world without men makes us see various possible developments of women. Chapter Three examines how Gilman parodies and redefines the conventional idea of masculinity. In this chapter, I discuss how Herlanders look at the three men, and explore Herlanders’ anticipation of men’s new roles. Chapter Four investigates the violence and hierarchy in Herland. In this chapter, I demonstrate that other forms of oppression and exploitation do not vanish alongside the extinction of sexual distinction. Chapter Five explores the “frontier” of utopia and how it is related to Gilman’s critique of gender conventions. In brief, while my main task is to examine how Gilman rewrites sexual roles, I also reveal the repetition of shortcomings and inadequacies of the human world in Herland.

並列關鍵字

Charlotte Perkins Gilman ； Herland ； feminist utopia ； femininity ； masculinity ； motherhood ； fatherhood ； gender

參考文獻

Albinski, Nan Bowman. Women’s Utopias in British and American

Bammer, Angelika. Partial Visions: Feminism and Utopianism in

Barnard, Malcolm. Fashion as Communication. London:

Routledge, 1996.

Bartkowski, Frances. Feminist Utopias. Lincoln: U of Nebraska