从《心是孤独的猎手》看麦卡勒斯的双性同体观.docx

从《心是孤独的猎手》看麦卡勒斯的双性同体观.docx

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从《心是孤独的猎手》看麦卡勒斯的双性同体观

本科毕业论文

中文题目：

从《心是孤独的猎手》看麦卡勒斯的双性同体观

外文题目：

TheAnalysesofCarsonMcCullers’AndrogynyinTheHeartisaLonelyHunter

院系

专业英语

年级2011级

学号

学生

指导教师

结稿日期

从《心是孤独的猎手》看麦卡勒斯的双性同体观

摘要：

卡森•麦卡勒斯是20世纪美国文坛一位才华横溢的女作家，也是最重要的南方作家之一。

其小说侧重于描绘主流社会的边缘人物大多体现孤独的主题。

早在23岁时，她就以1940年出版的《心是孤独的猎手》而成名。

她的其他作品是《伤心咖啡馆之歌》、《婚礼的成员》和《金色眼睛的映像》。

本论文主要介绍了《心是孤独的猎手》的双性同体观，描写了在一个不接受双性同体观的社会中，具有双性同体特征的人的遭遇。

比夫在自己的男性气质和女性气质间挣扎，雌雄同体的现象使他终日处在孤独与困惑中。

米克在自己的两个世界徘徊然而模糊的性别观念最终导致她被关到“里屋”外面，丢失了灵魂中最美丽的部分。

本论文分为四部分：

第一章介绍了卡森•麦卡勒斯，介绍了《心是孤独的猎手》及对双性同体理论的简要概述；第二章分析了比夫和米克的双性同体特征；第三章分析了麦卡勒斯双性同体产生的原因；第四章为结论部分，指出《心是孤独的猎手》揭示了双性同体观是异性恋霸权社会的受害者和牺牲品，强调卡森•麦卡勒斯提倡的是追求两性及其关系的自由发展。

关键词：

麦卡勒斯；双性同体观；性别跨越

TheAnalysesofCarsonMcCullers’AndrogynyinTheHeartisaLonelyHunter

Abstract

CarsonMcCullers,oneofthemostimportantAmericanwriters,isatalentedwomaninAmericainthe20thcentury.Hernovelsoftenfocusonthemarginalpersonofthemainstreamsocietyandembodythethemeofloneliness.ShegotsuccessearlywiththepublicationofTheHeartisaLonelyHunterin1940whenshewastwenty-three.HerotherworksareTheBalladofSadCafé,TheMemberofTheWeddingandReflectioninAGoldenEye.

ThisthesiswouldmainlyfocusonandrogynouscharactersinTheHeartIsALonelyHunter,portrayinghowthesepeoplesufferinthesocietywhichcan’tacceptandrogyny.Biffstrugglesbetweenmasculinityandfemininitywithinhimself,androgynyphenomenamakehimfeellonelyandconfusedalldaylong.Micklingersbetweentwoworlds,butbecauseofgenderdysphoria,sheisfinallyshutoutofthe“insideroom”andlosesthemostbeautifulpartinhersoul.

Thisthesisisdividedintofourparts.ChapteroneisintroductiontoCarsonMcCullers,theintroductiontoTheHeartisaLonelyHunterandthegeneralintroductiontotheandrogyny.Chaptertwoisintroductiontoandrogynyappliedinthework,whichanalyzesandrogynouscharactersofBiffandMick.ChapterthreeisthecausesofMcCullers’androgyny.Chapterfouristheconclusionpart,whichpointsoutthatHeartisaLonelyHunterrevealsqueers’sufferingsasthevictimsofheterosexualhegemonysociety;atthesametime,itemphasizesthatwhatMcCullersadvocatesaretopursuethefreedevelopmentofgenderanditsrelationship.

Keywords:

McCullers;androgyny;gendertransgression

Acknowledgements

Atthecompletionofthisthesis,Iwouldliketoexpressmyheartygratitudetoallthosewhohaveofferedmevaluableadviceandwarmencouragement.Theprojectwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithoutthesupportofmanypeople.

Firstandforemost,Iwouldliketoconveymygratitudetomysupervisor,ProfessorZhangQing,forhisconstantguidance,supportandinnovativeinsight.Alsoheprovidedmeplentifulwebsitesforsomeresearchresourceswhichareextremelyhelpful.HehastaughtmemorethanIcouldgivehimcredithere.Hiscontinuingassistance,encouragementandthoughtfulrevisionhavebeenastrongsupportinmythesiswriting.

Then,Iwouldliketoexpressmygratitudetomyallotherteachers.Theyhavetaughtandhelpedmesomuchduringtheirenlighteningcoursesandtheprocessofwritingthisthesis.Theirinstructionwillbeaneverlastingencouragementformyfuturecareer.

Manythanksalsogotomylovelyfriendsandclassmates,whohavehelpedmealot.TheyarereadytohelpmewheneverIaskandhavegivenmeconfidenceinmythesiswriting.

Lastbutnotleast,mysincerethanksgotomybelovedparents.Theyhavealwaysbeensupportingandhelpingmeduringtheprocessofwritingthethesis.Whattheyhavedoneisbeyondwords.

Contents

中文摘要i

Abstractii

Acknowledgementsiii

Introduction1

I.AndrogynyAppliedinTheHeartIsALonelyHunter4

A.TheAnalysisofBiff4

B.TheAnalysisofMick6

C.SocialOppressiononWomen9

II.TheCauseofMcCullers’Androgyny11

A.HerMiserableLifeExperience11

B.TheTurbulentSocialEnvironment12

Conclusion14

Notes16

Bibliography17

TheAnalysesofCarsonMcCullers’AndrogynyinTheHeartisaLonelyHunter

Introduction

CarsonMcCullers（1917-1967）isviewedasaleadingnovelist,shortstorywriter,poet,andplaywrightoftheAmericanSouth.ShewasborninColumbus.Hermusicaltalentandinterestinliteraturewasencouragedbyherindulgentmother.Meanwhile,shewasanawkwardandisolatedfreakduringschooldays.Carsonbegantolearnplayingpianoattheageoften,butduetosicknessandlackofstamina,shedecidedtogiveuppianoanddevotedherselftoliterarycreation.McCullersgainedherfamebecauseofthepublicationofTheHeartIsaLonelyHunterin1940whenshewasonlytwenty-three.OtherfamousworksofCarsonMcCullersincludeReflectionsinaGoldenEye（1941）;TheMemberofTheWedding（1946）,whichwontheNewYorkCriticsAwardin1950andwasstagedasaplayattheRoyalCourtTheater,London;TheBalladoftheSadCafe（1951）;TheSquareRootofWonderful（1958）;ClockwithoutHands（1961）andSweetasaPickleandCleanasaPig（1964）.

TheHeartIsaLonelyHunterwasMcCullers’firstnovel,whichcreatesaliterarysensationafteritspublication.Inthisnovel,sheportrayspeoplewhoareconfusedbytheirgenderidentity.Thegendertransgressionisagainstthesocialconventionsandthuscausesareconsiderationoftheconventionalbinarygenderstandards.

ThesettingofthestoryisanunknownanddisturbedtowninthemiddleoftheSouthinthe1930s.Therearetwomutesinthistownwhoarealwaystogether.JohnSingerandAntonapouloshaveapeacefullifeuntilonedaywhenAntonapoulosissenttoaninsaneasylumbecauseofhismentalproblem.Singerfeelsextremelydepressedaboutthesuddendepartureofhisbestfriend.HespendsalotoftimeinNewYorkCafé,wherehemeetsfouralienatedpeoplewhoexperiencefailuresandlonelinessandbelieveSingeristheonlyonethatcanunderstandtheirdreamsandfrustrations.However,SingerstillconsidersAntonapoulosasthemostimportantpartinhislife.It’snotabigsurpriseSingercommitssuicideafterAntonapoulos’death.Amongthefour,therearetwocharactersconfusedbygenderidentity,deservingspecialattention.ThecaféproprietorBiffisamanwhohasfemininity,andMickisagirlwhoisanambitioustomboy.

CarsonMcCullersisskilledinportrayingandrogynousimages,representativesofwhomareMickKelleyandBiffinTheHeartIsaLonelyHunter.Theydon’thaveahappylife,beingmiserableintheprocessofidentifyingthemselves.Theyaresufferingfromthelonelinessbecausenoonecanunderstandthemandthewholesocietycan’taccepttheiridentity.Sotheyarefacingsomuchpressure.

ThetermandrogynyisderivedfromGreekwordsfor“male”（andro）and“female”（gyn）,referringtotheunionofthemasculineandthefeminine,whicharegenerallyviewedasfundamentallyantithetical.1Androgyny,inanarrowsense,referstothephysicaluniquenessofpossessingbothmaleandfemale.Nowadays,howeverwithitswideapplicationinreligion,psychologyandliteratureinparticular,itisnolongerconfinedtotheoriginalmeaningandhaswidermeaningwhichblendsbothmasculineandfemininepsychologicaltraitsofaperson.

AndrogynywasnotanimportantandestablishedterminliteratureuntilVirginiaWoolfformallyintroduceditintoliterarycriticisminARoomofOne’sOwn,whereitpickedupanadditionalsignificanceofsexdissolutionortranscendence.Shethinksandrogynyexistsineverybodyallthetimeanditcanmoveusawayfromsexualpolarizationandtheprisonofgenderbecauseandrogynysuggestsaspiritofreconciliationbetweenthesexes.Accordingtoher,tocreatemasterpieces,allwritersmustforgettheirsexandagoodwritingshoulddisplaygoodcontrolofhis/herpassions.2Therefore,creatinggreatworksneedsadynamicbalanceofmasculineandfemininetraits.Apparently,afterbeingintroducedintoliterature,themeaningofandrogynyhasbeenenrichedandexpandedtoincludethequalityofpossessingbothmasculineandfemininecharacteristicswithinagivenperson.

Androgynyisnowwidelyacceptedbythepublic,beingregardedasanaturalqualityofallhumanbeings.Tounderstandandrogyny,itisimportanttoexplorethedifferencesbetweensexandgender.Sexdescribesthephysicalbodyandgenderdescribesthesocialroleofanindividual.Intradition,peopleareexpectedtodressandbehaveinwaysthataregenderappropriate.Thepunishmentfordeviationfromgenderroleexpectationscanbequiteharsh,fromridiculetoostracismtoharassment.

ThisthesiswouldmainlyfocusonandrogynouscharactersinTheHeartIsALonelyHunter,portrayinghowthesepeoplesufferinthesocietywhichcan’tacceptandrogyny.Anditisdividedintofourparts.OneisintroductiontoCarsonMcCullers,theintroductiontoTheHeartisaLonelyHunterandthegeneralintroductiontotheandrogyny.Chaptertwoisintroductiontoandrogynyappliedinthework,whichanalyzesandrogynouscharactersofBiffandMick.ChapterthreeisthecausesofMcCullers’androgyny.Chapterfouristheconclusionpart,whichpointsoutthatHeartisaLonelyHunterrevealsqueers’sufferingsasthevictimsofheterosexualhegemonysociety;atthesametime,itemphasizesthatwhatMcCullersadvocatesaretopursuethefreedevelopmentofgenderanditsrelationship.

I.AndrogynyAppliedinTheHeartIsALonelyHunter

TheAnalysisofBiff

BiffBrannonistheowneroftherestaurantNewYorkCafe,alocalonewheremanyresidentsgotoeatanddrink.Biffisatoughmanwithblackandheavybeard.Buthehasgentlesoul.Hewouldn’tbuydrinkstothesemisfortunatedisabledpeople;hewouldtakecareofJackwhoisinthementaldilemma;andhewouldgivediscountstochildren.Thoughhedoe