近70年美国中产阶级女性的个体化进程与母职认同——基于欧茨小说的考察

American Middle-Class Women′s Individualization Process and Motherhood Identification in the Past Seventy Years——A Case Study of Joyce Carol Oates′s Novels

女性的个体化进程是对其母亲角色的一种挑战,同时带来两性关系、家庭结构和社会交往等多个话语体系的冲突、协商。以欧茨小说《奇境》《光明天使》和《我的妹妹,我的爱》中三位母亲形象为代表,可由此窥见近70年美国白人中产阶级女性在个体化进程与母职认同、社会期待之间所遭遇的矛盾。由于工业社会的转型、消费文化的肆虐和性别话语的变迁,中产阶级女性在寻求自我发展与母职认同的抉择中不断变化:从自我牺牲的“天使型”母亲,到野心勃勃的“社交型”母亲,再到进退维谷的“全能型”母亲。社会传统期待的负面暗示、消费社会大众传媒的推波助澜以及女性对自我价值定位的设限,使美国中产阶级女性一直挣扎在自我价值追寻与母职认同的两难境地中。

Women′s individualization process means a contradiction to their motherhood,and it brings about conflicts and consultations in gender relations,family structure and social interaction.Based on Oates′s novels Wonderland,Angel of Light and My Sister My Love,this paper mainly focuses on the contradictions of middle-class women′s individualization process,motherhood identity and social expectation for nearly seven decades.With the transformation of industrial society,the rampancy of consumer culture and the change of gender discourse,women in different eras in Oates′s novels are constantly changing in their choice of seeking self-development and motherhood identity:from the self-sacrificing"angel"mother to the ambitious"social"mother,and then to the"perfect"mother in a dilemma.Due to the negative implication of traditional social expectation,the wide spread definition of"perfect"mom by mass media and the self-limitation of women′s self-value,American middle-class women have been struggling in the dilemma of self-worth pursuit and motherhood identification.