科伦·麦凯恩《飞越大西洋》中的道格拉斯流散叙事与跨国、跨种族团结悖论

Diaspora and the Paradox of Transnational and Transracial Solidarity in Colum McCann's TransAtlantic

科伦·麦凯恩在小说《飞越大西洋》中再现了美国废奴主义者弗里德里克·道格拉斯1845年的跨大西洋流散之旅,这一旅程将美国黑人与爱尔兰人的遭遇联系在一起,成为跨国、跨种族团结的一次有益实践。不过,爱尔兰人和美国黑人虽同被奴役,但二者“种族化”的形成机制存在本质差异。不同于美国黑人,爱尔兰人分别在19世纪的英国和美国扮演着对立的“种族”角色,在美国被视作白人,而在英国却被视作黑人。小说中,英国作为跨大西洋政治场域中的重要力量,其对美国废奴事业的支持与其背后的殖民霸权主义动摇了美国黑人解放事业与爱尔兰民族主义的融合根基。由此,麦凯恩揭示了构建跨大西洋命运共同体的复杂性与矛盾性,这也是爱尔兰人与美国黑人之间跨国、跨种族团结的悖论之所在。

In TransAtlantic,Colum McCann represented the 1845 transatlantic diasporic journey of American abolitionist Frederick Douglass,which linked the plight of African Americans to Irish and became a useful practice in transnational and transracial solidarity.Although African Americans and Irish people were both enslaved,the mechanisms of their“racialization”were fundamentally different.Unlike African Americans,the Irish played an opposing“racial”role in 19th century Britain and the United States.In the United States they were considered white,but in Britain they were considered black.As an important force in the transatlantic political context,Britain's support for American abolitionism and its colonial hegemony shook the roots of Irish nationalism's fusion with the American abolitionism.Thus,McCann reveals the complexity and contradiction of building a transatlantic community of shared future,which is also the paradox of transnational,transracial solidarity between Irish and African Americans.