监视与驯服:《在麦加》新解

The Surveillance and Taming of In Mecca

《在麦加》是美国非裔诗人格温多琳·布鲁克斯的代表作之一,作者以芝加哥麦加为原型,描写了U型结构下黑人贫民窟中发生的一系列事情,麦加居民以一种被监视又被无视的状态生存着。比起被囚禁的监狱,麦加人的生活看似自由,却又处处透露着秘密。白人权力的入侵使得麦加人没有个人隐私,可是他们的监视却又可有可无,让麦加成为被驯服的失败品。作者以麦加日常的生活为蓝图,为人们描述了一个关于麦加人被权力控制和驯服的故事,说明在当时社会被白人所歧视和放弃的黑人的挣扎和绝望。

In Mecca is one of the representative works of American African poet Gwendolyn Brooks. Based on Chicago mecca, the author describes a series of things happened in the black civilian caves under the U-shaped structure. The residents of mecca live in a state of being watched and ignored. Compared with the prisons in which they were held, mecca people’s life seemed to be free but full of secrets. The invasion of white power makes the people of mecca have no privacy, and their surveillance was dispensable, making mecca people become a failure of being tamed. Based on the daily life of mecca, the author describes a story about the people of mecca being controlled and tamed by power, illustrating the struggle and despair of black people who were discriminated against and abandoned by white people at that time.