From Culturally Confused "I" to Bicultural "We" : Maxine Hong Kingston's Trilogy

從文化混淆的“我”到駕馭雙文化的“我們”：湯亭亭的三部曲

鄭惠芳(Wai-Fong Cheang)

《通識研究集刊》 3期 (2003/06) Pp. 101-120

https://doi.org/10.6488/JCGE.200306.0101

摘要

本文探討湯亭亭著作－《女戰士》、《金山勇士》、《猴行者：他的僞書》之間的微妙關聯性，企圖指出雖然此三本著作就個別性而言，每一本皆是獨立完整的作品，而且前兩本和第三本在文類性質上尚有非小說與小說的級大差異，但儘管如此，讀者仍可將此三本著作視爲三部曲。本文主張此項三部曲的閱讀策略可將個別作品中的故事串聯集結爲具史詩般氣勢的華裔美國文化歷史，因此對此三本著作所共同著重的族裔文化議題，可呈現更加有趣也更爲宏觀的詮釋面向。從《女戰士》到《金山勇士》到《猴行者：他的僞書》，它們之間具有的三部曲連貫性，正展現有如世代間之演化：從文化混淆又孤獨的「我」，華裔美國人一步步邁向具集體族裔歸屬感、自信並駕馭雙文化的「我們」。

關鍵字

湯亭亭 ； 華裔美國文學 ； 《女戰士》 ； 《金山勇士》 ； 《猴行者》 ； 三部曲

並列摘要

There is an interesting interrelationship between Maxine Hong Kingston’s three books: The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts, China Men and Tripmaster Monkey: His Fake Book. Even though each of these works is a self-contained book, and even though the third one is fiction completely different from the first two, which were awarded as nonfiction, this paper suggests a reading strategy that would endow Kingston’s works with the depth and strength of an epic. It suggests that these three works be read as a trilogy depicting the history and fate not just of individuals, but also of the Chinese Americans.
The paper argues that though the protagonists and narrators are not identical from book to book, a sort of evolutionary development appears in the sequence of the three books, as in biological evolution, individuals change relatively little; the major changes appear between generations. This reading strategy can be useful as it encompasses a wider, almost birds-eye-view of the whole race and identity question. The paper demonstrates that as a trilogy, Kingston’s three books manifest a progression from the naive, insecure, culturally confused “I” to a sophisticated, confident and bicultural for not just the protagonists, but the Chinese Americans that they represent.

並列關鍵字

Maxine Hong Kingston ； Chinese American ； The Woman Warrior ； China Men ； Tripmaster Monkey ； trilogy