对抗记忆:评托妮·莫里森的小说《家》

Counter-Memory in Toni Morrison's Home

美国当代黑人女作家托妮·莫里森在其小说《家》中呈现了关于20世纪50年代美国的记忆,这段记忆是不同于美国"官方记忆"的"对抗记忆"。在官方的记忆中,人们生活在自己的家园里,生活安定、富足,然而莫里森提供的"对抗记忆"却显示,对于非裔美国人而言,无论是关于"家"的记忆,还是个体成长的记忆,都充满了创伤。他们被排斥在"美国梦"之外,身处无"家"可归的绝望中,他们甚至无法支配自己的身体,不得不接受身体被利用和被践踏的残酷现实。不过莫里森提供的"对抗记忆"并非只是灰暗的,非裔美国人如何在恶劣的环境中顽强乐观地生存让人看到这段记忆中的亮色。对于莫里森,在记忆领域展开争夺战至关重要,这关系到非裔美国人在美国历史中是否被遗忘或者记住。

Toni Morrison in her latest novel Home presents the memory about America in 1950 s,which can be regarded as the 'counter-memory' in opposition to the 'official memory' about this period.According to the official history,people then lived in their own homes,enjoying peace and comfort,but the 'counter-memory' provided by Toni Morrison reveals that to African Americans,both the memory about 'home' and their growth is traumatized.They were excluded from the 'American Dream',living in the despair of homelessness,even unable to control their own body,which was much abused and trampled upon.However,this 'counter-memory' about 1950s in America is not only about gloominess for African Americans,whose optimism and perseverance enable them to survive such hardship.To Morrison,it is very important to fight for the rights in the field of memory,which is related to whether African Americans can be remembered or forgotten in American history.