燃燒的美國: 論電影中國家主體分裂與其不完全身份認同

Abstract

中文摘要 本文主要探討美國的國家主體如何形成的，在剖析其主體形成的過成中，也將接示身為美國人這個身分認同的秘密，藉由分析三部電影，《大法師》、《綠巨人浩克》、《星際戰警》，這三部電影分別探討美國主體形成的三個不同面向，宗教、軍事、種族，由此討論得出美國主體是個分裂主體，美國的身分認同因此而無法完全。 在概論中，介紹了藉由這三部電影分析美國的理論依據，由拉岡的「凝視」的概念來探討分裂主體，除此之外，克莉絲蒂娃的「厭棄」理論也用來補足通篇的論據，此章是接下來章節的概序。 第一章探討美國主體形成的宗教面向，由電影《大法師》切入，此篇論點為天主教徒的主體分裂在兩個層面上，一個是宗教儀式來確認自己的信仰，另一層面就是無法面對的創傷，也就是為他人犧牲生命。電影中只有克拉斯神父懷疑他的信仰，還背負著其罪惡感，此罪惡感來源於兩方面，一是他認為他不是個好兒子，另一個是他不認為他是個真正的天主教徒，最終，他終於跨越這分裂的鴻溝，完全了真正天主教徒與真正兒子的身分，但卻把自己的主體毀滅。另一方面，電影中整個驅魔的過程，就是排洩宗教的骯髒物的過程，由此來淨化宗教本身。 第二章藉由分析電影《綠巨人浩克》，檢視了美國主體的軍事面向，論點提出浩克事實上是美國軍事主體的厭棄物，軍方需要藉由消滅浩克的行動來定義自己作為軍方的功用，而布魯斯在痛苦的轉變成為浩克的表情分裂了美國軍事主體，因為這表情揭示了美國軍方無法面的的自己的罪惡，也就是浩克的誕生，軍方永遠無法正確的解決這個由他們造成的創傷。 第三章由分析電影《星際戰警》來探討美國主體形成的種族面向，電影中突兀的黑白主角對比事實上展示了美國種族平等的幻想，因此美國種族的主體分裂在這個展示出的幻想與實際上的種族不平等的真實情況之間。 第四章總結了三部電影的分析，得出的結論為排泄物一直會出現來挑戰美國主體，而美國主體總是分裂在自己無法面對的罪惡與用來掩蓋其罪惡感的幻想之間。

Abstract This thesis is the study of how the subjectivity of America has come into being. Along the way, the secret of the identity of being an American is revealed. By looking into the three films, The Exorcist, The Hulk, and MIB, each of which discusses an aspect of America (the religious, the military, and the racial), I argue that the subjectivity of America is a split one, and therefore that the identity of being an American is unfulfilled. In the introduction, I explain the theoretical base of my analysis of America through the three films. I will deploy the Lacanian gaze to reach the interpretation of the subjectivity of America as split. Besides the Lacanian gaze, I also bring in Kriesteva’s abject to complement my argument. This chapter is an outline of the argument for each chapter to come. Chapter One aims to explore the religious aspect of America by the analysis of The Exorcist. I argue that the Catholic subjectivity is split between the religious ceremonies performed to assure its own certainty and the traumatic kernel to sacrifice one’s life. In the film, only Father Karras doubts his faith and bears the guilt of not being a good son to his mother and not being a true Catholic. He finally crosses over this gap and fulfill his identity of a Catholic and a son by destroying his own subjectivity. And by getting rid of the demon, the filth, the abject, the process of exorcism is also the purification of Catholicism itself.

Chapter Two examines the military aspect of America through The Hulk. I argue that the hulk is the abject of the military subject, and the military needs to eradicate the hulk to define its own function. And Bruce’s grimace when transforming into the Hulk splits the military subject because this gaze reminds the military of its own guilt that they cause the birth of the Hulk, which they can never deal with. Chapter Three explores the racial aspect of America through MIB. The visual contrast of black and white displays the American fantasy of racial equality. The racial aspect of the American subjectivity is thus split between the fantasy embodied in the film and the real of the inequality between races. Chapter Four sums up my analysis of the three films, from which I have derived the conclusion that the abject (the shit) always challenges the American subject, and the subjectivity of America is always split between its own unbearable guilt and the fantasy to cover such a guilt.