是血统还是允诺?——以小说《爱妻》论任璧莲的身份观

Descent or consent?——Cultural identity of The Love Wife by Gish Jen

任璧莲的小说《爱妻》,从两性关系、家庭构成到公民认同三个层面探讨多元文化社会中移民的身份建构,应答了美国华裔文学史上"是血统还是允诺"的身份观之争。任璧莲的观点是,在多元文化的当代社会,允诺是构成个人身份、家庭以及国家身份的核心。允诺在于个人的选择与建构,没有环境、生物性、种族的限制,也并非固定不变、纯粹本质化的。允诺的身份策略能够广泛吸收成员参与民族群体,是对于不同种族、不同文化公民的一种平等体认,迈向一种后现代的文化身份观。由于任璧莲独特的生活经历,其身份观也有很大的理想成分。

The Love Wife by Gish Jen depicts multidimensional identities of the immigrants through matrimonial relations, family compositions and citizenship, in attempt to distinguish consent from descent in the history of Chinese American literature. Jen claims that in the multicultural society, consent forms the core of identity of a person, family and nation. Consent is a liable to personal choice and reconstruc- tion, and it is free from environmental, biological and racial constraints. The paper discusses Gish Jen＇s u- nique life experience in relation to her view of identity.