论辛西娅·角畑《漂浮的世界》中的家、旅行与(不)流动

Home, Travel and(Im)mobility in Cynthia Kadohata’s The Floating World

辛西娅·角畑的作品《漂浮的世界》,呈现了家、旅行与工作的主题与意象,这三个主题皆凸显了(不)流动的议题。小说呈现的旅行与工作之关联,两者皆具有流动意涵--前者是地域性的流动,而后者则是社会阶级的流动。然而,小说中的旅行与工作往往也意味着无法流动,与家的不稳定性有着一定的关联。换言之,藉由分析小说中的家、旅行与工作等主题与意象,本文希冀凸显隐藏在文本底层的另一根本议题,即20世纪中期、二次大战后日裔美国人所面临(不)流动的问题。

Cynthia Kadohata’s The Floating World explores the issues of home, travel, and travail, all of which involve the idea of(im)mobility. Ideas of travel and travail are intertwined with each other. The former involves geographical, territorial mobility while the latter leads to social mobility. Nevertheless, both are implicated in the economy of immobility and relate to the instability of home in the novel. By analyzing the ideas and images of home, travel and travail, this article intends to foreground the underlying issue: the problem of(im)mobility, confronted by Japanese Americans in postwar America in the mid-twentieth century.