论巴特勒小说《家族》中的历史书写和政治隐喻

On the Historical Writings and Political Metaphor in Butler's Kindred

美国科幻小说家奥克塔维娅·巴特勒的《家族》融科学幻想小说、新奴隶叙事与历史书写小说于一炉,以穿越的形式向人们展示了奴隶制的罪恶,引发对美国现实种族关系、两性关系的思考。小说通过新奴隶叙事的形式再现了不可再现之过去,通过科幻小说的形式言说了黑人无法言说之创痛。其历史书写隐喻着美国黑人和白人割不断的历史渊源和共生关系这一美国国族寓言。《家族》表明,黑白血脉相连,其历史经历交织,黑白的许多经历是共同体验的结果。为了避免历史重演,黑人和白人必须在历史记忆和重访过去中了解历史真相,并对美国当下语境下自由的概念和美国黑人乃至美国整个国族的整体命运加以关注与思考。

Octavia Butler＇s Kindred employs the devices of science fiction,speculative neo-slave narrative,and historical narrative to represent history. By using one of the oldest imaginative devices,time travel,Kindred maps the often uncanny interlocutions of race,gender,and history,interrogating how these elements work together through interlocking sets of representations to trigger people＇s probe into American reality of racial and gender relationship. Neo-slave narrative helps to represent the unrepresentable history; science fiction contributes to speaking the unspeakable trauma of Afro-American people,especially that of black women; historical writings allegorize the historical and symbiotic relation between Afro-Americans and White people.Kindred suggests that White and Black Americans are interconnected kindred sharing mutual historical experiences together. In order to avoid the repetition of history,all American people,Black or White,have to know the truth of history in light of histori-cal memory and revisiting the past,and reconsider the concept of freedom and national fate in the context of present America.