"他性"之维:论戏剧《维纳斯》和《在血泊中》的"他者"形象与建构

The Dimensions of Otherness:the Image and the Construct of"Other"in Venus and In the Blood

"他性"是美国当代杰出戏剧家帕克斯戏剧的一个重要主题,《维纳斯》和《在血泊中》即展现了种族和性别维度上的"他性".非裔女性由于人性和性格弱点以及主流社会的合力导致了自身的悲剧命运,成为黑人社区和白人社会双重视阈下的他者和受困者.而舞台演员、剧院观众和戏剧读者共同见证了这些非裔女性形象的生存困境,于是她们成为"他者"和面对"他者"的二元性在剧中得以凸显.帕克斯戏剧通过揭示非裔人物他者形象的呈现与构建,以期引起人们对非裔女性生存境遇的广泛关注并提升他们的社会地位,从而实现真正的种族和性别平等.

Suzan-Lori Parks has been a distinctive figure in contemporary American theatre.Otherness is a major subject in her plays.Through closely examining Park's two plays,Venus and In the Blood,racial otherness and gender otherness are demonstrated.Specifically,due to their human weaknesses and character flaws,Sarah Baartman in Venus and Hester in In the Blood co-create their own tragic destiny with the mainstream white society and become"other"and victims in their black community and the society at the white gaze.The onstage audience,theatre audience,and readers witness the hardships of these alienated characters.Being"other"and facing"other"are fully demonstrated in Parks'plays.Through representing and constructing otherness of the African American female characters in her plays,Parks attempts to draw wide attention to the survival conditions of the African American women and aims to improve their social status and achieve true racial and gender equalities.