论《简·萨默斯的日记》中的底层老年书写

Representations of the Aged “Underclass” in The Diaries of Jane Somers

老龄是莱辛《简·萨默斯的日记》中的重要主题。以往研究多关注中年女主人公简娜或老年莫迪这一人物,较少提及与莫迪有着相似境遇的安妮这一相对“负面”的老年形象。本文从身体视域出发,关注小说对莫迪、安妮两位底层老年女性在严密的社会阶级秩序中遭遇他者化,在压制性空间权力结构内承受暴力和宰制等的写实刻画,试图在生命脆弱性思想框架下解读莱辛的老年书写,认为它是对脆弱性伦理观的呼应,以及对20世纪七八十年代英国社会文化、政治的深度批判。

Ageing is the central theme in Lessing’s The Diaries of Jane Somers.In previous studies, much attention has been paid to the middle-aged female protagonist Janna and the old woman Maudie Fowler, leaving another old woman Annie Reeves,the relatively negative elderly figure almost untouched. Beginning from the perspective of the body, this article examines the novel’s realistic depictions of Maudie and Annie’s experience of othering in a rigid, class-stratified society and the domination and violence that they suffer within oppressive power structures. This article attempts to argue that Lessing’s representations of ageing not only echo an ethics of vulnerability, but also level an insightful critique of British’s sociocultural and political environments in the 1970s and 80s.