伍綺詩《無聲告白》中的羞愧與忌妒

Abstract

伍綺詩於2014年出版的小說《無聲告白》中，其全知的敘事者一步步地帶領讀者發現李氏家族成員的秘密。透過研究羞愧與忌妒之潛在特性與影響力，此論文企圖證明這兩種情感導致此跨種族家庭的悲劇。 本文的第一節重點在檢視同是家庭與文化的現象的羞愧，是如何造成亞裔美國人詹姆斯、以及他的一雙混血兒女：奈森與莉蒂亞，對自我產生負面評價，並因此毀了他們在家庭中和美國社會上的人際關係。文章第二節則在探索忌妒本身如何破壞奈森與莉蒂亞間充斥著同情的兄妹關係；莉蒂亞最後必須獨自克服此具有自我毀滅特性的情感，死於當地的湖裡。

In Celeste Ng’s 2014 novel, Everything I Never Told You, the omniscient narrator guides readers into the secrecy of the Lees step by step. By inquiring into the potential characteristics and influences of shame and envy, the thesis seeks to argue that the two affects lead to tragedy of the interracial family. In the first section, the thesis examines how shame, equally a familial and a cultural phenomena, brings about a negative self-recognition of Asian American James and of his mixed-race children, Nathan (Nath) and Lydia, which consequently ruins their interpersonal relationships at home as well as in the community. In the second section, the thesis delves into how envy destroys the sympathetic connections between Nath and Lydia, who ends up having to cope with her self-destructive feelings alone and dies in the local lake.