Space/Place and Situationality/Situatedness of Identity: Reading James McBride's The Color of Water

評《水之色》中空間與身份認同的情境性

開一心(I-Hsin Kai)

《台南科技大學通識教育學刊》 10期 (2011/01) Pp. 203-219

https://doi.org/10.6780/JGETUT.201101.0205

摘要

「文化身份」乃建立於對「空間」與「地方」的歸屬。人群生命經驗常把單純自然的「空間」轉化成主觀人為的「地方」，使得「地方」發展成為具備特殊指涉意涵的所在，進而形成生活其中個體之身分認同。身份認同所導致的「異」「同」，乃由情境特質決定，個人的選擇取決於當下他和社會情境的互動。空間如同其他社會形式（譬如：階級結構），由根本的生產關係所產製並形成結構。主體擁有多重交疊的歸屬特質，以致於身份／認同具備多重性。身份／認同對主體而言可說是接納與排擠錯綜複雜交織的結果；其中所涉及的是主體自我與客體外在情境的互為運作過程中的選擇， 也就是身份／認同的情境性。本研究以身分認同的情境性為基礎，析論美國黑白混血作家麥布萊德的自傳《水之色》，探究空間與個人身份認同形塑之間關係外，並檢證個人身份認同的情境性。

關鍵字

情境性 ； 身份認同 ； 《水之色》

並列摘要

Cultural identity is constructed on the basis of one's belongingness to a certain space/place. Space in nature is transferred into an artificial place via daily contacts with residents in it. Consequently, space develops into a place of abundant meaningfulness and accordingly shapes the identities of the subjects in it. The sameness and the difference of the identity are oftentimes determined by situatedness/situationality pertaining to the social conditions and the interacting of objects. Like other social forms such as class hierarchies, space is constructed and produced by the embedded relationships of the production. Space territory is defined not only through the external manipulation but also the internalization of the residents in the precinct. Consequently, the operation transforms the subject into an object. This study investigates the relationship between the territorialization of space in the city and the shaping of identity, particularly with a focus on situationality/situatedness of identity. The text to be discussed is James McBride's ”The Color of Water”, a New York Times bestseller autobiography in 1996.

並列關鍵字

Situationality/Situatedness ； identity ； "The Color of Water"