文学中的史学:汤亭亭《中国佬》侨乡视角探析

Historiography in Literature Writing:The Ancestral Land in Maxine Hong Kingston’s China Men

《中国佬》是以广东新会古井汤家四代男性自19世纪中期以来的出洋经历为基础写就的。从五邑侨乡视角,分析汤家男性“闯金山”的不易,特别是修铁路的巨大牺牲,以及寄侨汇时与侨乡家眷割不断的情感、物质勾连;还以“捡骨”风俗,试图还原清末在美铁路华工万里归葬的还乡悲歌。而通过对作品中“父亲”汤思德生平的考证,发现他已成为定格于新会古井镇泗冲村汤家族谱上的海外“思”字辈。汤家第四代终于完成了脱离族谱起名字的美国身份转化。汤亭亭让逝去的“金山英雄”特别是铁路华工祖父“阿公”发声,提出了19世纪50年代以来华人移民理所当然拥有不可剥夺的美国公民资格的严肃命题,从而确立了五邑先侨之于美国华裔族群的地位。

Maxine Hong Kingston encapsulates the collective memory of American Chinese originated from Jiangmen in China Men,which she wrote based on real experiences of four generations of men of the Tang family.The author analyzes their adventures in the Gold Mountain,hardship in settlement,great sacrifices to railway-building,and strong emotional and financial bonds with the rest of the Tang family back in China.Specific Cantonese customs such as sending remittances and repatriating exhumed bones for reburial at home are discussed in detail.The life story of Mr.Tang Si’de,the last generation of this family going overseas,pinpoints the Tangs’Americanization at the end.Maxine Hong Kingston also gives voices to‘Ah Goong’,a deceased Chinese railroad worker,and raises the grave issue of Chinese immigrants’undeniable American citizenship since the 1850s.