作者 |

陳淑玲(東華大學英美語文學系)

摘要 |

 集詩人、小說家、評論家、及散文家等於一身的非裔美籍名作家愛麗絲‧沃克,向來繫念她同胞的精神存亡。她尤其致力於探索非裔美籍女性的生活。在這部有關非裔美國人的民權運動、女性主義、社會主義、及母系傳統等的小說《瑪莉荻安》中,沃克描繪了本質上是矛盾的黑人母職的制度,對非裔美籍女性的影響。本文試圖闡述書中女主角瑪莉荻安實現自我的經歷及其對社區的影響。除了檢視她對女性是沒大腦的身體,是性交對象的刻板印象的質疑外,更深入探究她拒絕接受被理想化、強調自我犧牲、無我的黑人母職,以及她延伸母職的意義,並藉由承擔促進整個非裔美國人民福祉的社區媽媽的角色,為他們身體及精神的存活奉獻,去實現自我。再者,她刺激整個社區,去用一個女人主義者的觀點,重新定義黑人母職及看待黑人女性,而她的自我實現更帶動了杜魯門‧黑爾德的轉變。
  本文分為四部分,首先簡介沃克創作及其女人主義理念。第二部分主要討論安菊‧芮曲對母職鞭辟入裏的見解,以及派翠西亞 西爾‧柯林斯與芭芭拉‧柯莉斯蒂安對黑人母職意義的論述。接著分析瑪莉荻安因意外生子而無我,因此拒絕母職以保自我,並由重新定義母職實現自我的經歷,尚會顧及她與包含她母親在內的社區的關聯。最後闡明瑪莉荻安身為社區媽媽對社區,尤其是杜魯門的影響。

關鍵字 |

愛麗絲‧沃克,瑪莉荻安,黑人母職,社區媽媽,女人主義者,自我實現

Title |

Not a Monster, But a Community Othermother: Self-Realization in Alice Walker’s Meridian

Author |

Shu-Ling Chen(Department of English National Dong Hwa University)

Abstract |

Deeply concerned for the survival of her people, renowned African American writer, Alice Walker, whose works are both political and aesthetically beautiful, is committed to exploring the lives of black women. In Meridian, a novel about, among other things, the Civil Rights Movement, feminism, and matrilineal heritage, Walker depicts the impact of black motherhood, a fundamentally contradictory institution, on black women. This paper attempts to discuss the title character Meridian’s journey to self-realization and its effect on her community. It will analyze how she refuses play the part of the idealized, selfless, and self-sacrificing black mother, redefines motherhood, and takes on the role of the empowering community othermother, striving for the physical and spiritual survival of her people and mothering the mind of both children and adults to achieve self-realization. It proposes that Meridian stimulates the black community to contemplate critically the restrictive institution of black motherhood and redefine it through a womanist perspective; it also contends that her self-realization inspires Truman to face his own limitations and contradictions, leading him to change.
This paper is divided into five sections. It begins with a brief introduction on Walker and her ideas concerning the womanist perspective. It then probes the meanings of motherhood and black motherhood, focusing on the theories of Adrienne Rich, Patricia Hill Collins, and Barbara Christian. The third section follows the transformation of Meridian from being trapped in gender roles, especially in motherhood, to a self-fulfilling individual. It will also incorporate her relationships with her mother and the community. The fourth section analyzes Meridian’s influence on the black community, especially Truman. It concludes with some thoughts on how we can learn from Meridian’s solution and vision of self-realization, and create a better society.

Keywords |

Alice Walker, Meridian, black motherhood, community othermother, womanist, self-realization

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不是妖怪,而是社區媽媽:論愛麗絲‧沃克