规训·服从·反抗:浅析《一位非洲修女的日记》中的“模拟”机制

Discipline, Subjection, and Resistance: On the Mechanism of Mimicry in “The Diary of an African Nun”

霍米·巴巴的"模拟"概念蕴含双重性:一方面,"模拟"是殖民者为了巩固其殖民统治而对殖民地人民进行规训的策略;另一方面,在服从殖民者的规训的同时,被殖民者可能会挪用"模拟"策略对殖民者的权威进行挑战。本文根据巴巴的"模拟"与福柯的"规训"等概念,解读艾丽丝·沃克的短篇小说《一位非洲修女的日记》中的"模拟"所蕴含的双重机制。本文认为,西方殖民者的"模拟"策略显示其殖民非洲的功能性,但非洲修女也通过挪用"模拟"策略反抗西方殖民者的道德秩序和权威话语,并使之成为黑人群体在困境中保存自我的一种方式。

Homi Bhabha＇s concept of ＂mimicry＂ includes two sides： on the one hand, it is the strategy through which the colonists discipline the colonized people to strengthen their dominance; on the other hand, the colonized people might appropriate ＂mimicry＂ to challenge the colonists＇ authority while in subjection to the colonizers＇ discipline. The paper analyzes the double mechanisms of ＂mimicry＂ in Alice Walker＇s ＂The Diary of an African Nun＂ based on Bhabha＇s ＂mimicry＂ and Foucault＇s ＂discipline,＂ arguing that the western colonists＇ strategy of ＂mimicry＂ demonstrates its function in colonizing Africa. However, the African nun＇s appropriation of the mimic strategy not only resists the western colonists＇ moral order and religious discourse, but also makes it become one means of the black community＇s self preservation in predicament.