二十世纪西方文学中的女性与酒——以凯瑟琳·安·波特的《愚人船》为例

Women and Alcohol in Western Literature of 20th Century:A Case Study of Katherine Anne Porter's Ship of Fools

将《愚人船》置入西方关于女性酗酒话题的历史文化语境之中进行解读,有助于深入探讨以凯瑟琳·安·波特为代表的酗酒女性作家对此语境的回应。在公开场合过量饮酒几乎一直是男性的特有权利,女性难以获得在公共场所大胆而且大量饮酒的自由。女性酗酒在西方社会长期被视为异常行为,但与此同时,酗酒也成为女性的反抗之道。波特在小说中着重刻画了一位中产阶级妇女、一位青年女艺术家和一群西班牙舞女的饮酒、酗酒行为以及酒后的暴力举动,从不同层面回击了性别不公正的西方社会文化语境。在波特的书写中,女性的饮酒行为是女性重新建构自我身份的重要方式,她们通过酒来获得被剥夺的权力、个体的独立性和自主性,饮酒能够帮助女性有效抵制被强加的身份符码,颠覆根深蒂固的西方传统文化对女性角色的预设。

This essay reviews the Western historical and cultural contexts of the relationship between women and alcohol, and by taking Ship of Fools as a textual sample, it examines how alcoholic female writers with Katherine Anne Porter as their representative respond to such contexts.Excessive drinking on public occasions is always the right for males, and female are rarely seen drinking publicly and boldly.Alcoholism has long been seen as deviant for women, but at the same time it also serves as their medium of defiance.By depicting a middle-class lady, a young woman artist and a group of Spanish dancing girls in the novel as well as describing their behaviors of and after drinking, Porter responds to the socio-cultural milieu of gender inequality from different angles.Through consuming alcohol, female reconstruct their selfhood and regain their deprived power, independence and autonomy.Drinking helps women effectively resist the imposed identity codes and subvert the stereotyped roles resulting from the deep-rooted Western cultural traditions.