Divinity on the Implacable and Immemorial Earth: Dialectics of Pregnancy in Light in August

殘酷太古之神性：論《八月之光》的懷孕論證

10.6184/TKR.200912_40(1).0008

Chung-Jen Chen

福克納 ； 《八月之光》 ； 巴克汀 ； 怪誕 ； 聖經 ； 對話 ； 懷孕 ； Faulkner ； Light in August ； Bakhtin ； grotesque ； the Bible ； dialectics ； pregnancy

Tamkang Review

40卷1期（2009 / 12 / 01）

141 - 163

英文

福克納多次公開宣稱，他的寫作靈感來自他對女性的仰慕。這番創作白白在《八月之光》中可以得到明顯的佐證。更精確一點的說，在《八月之光》中，福克納對女性的仰慕不只啟發他寫作的靈感，懷孕的女性更強化了這部作品的深度，作品中萊納˙葛洛夫以及米莉˙海恩的懷孕，甚至於喬安娜˙波頓佯裝的懷孕，以及對於三位女性角色懷孕後截然不同的命運鋪陳，不但發揮推動作品敘述的重要功能，更厚實了這本書的意涵。在福克納寫作的文化脈絡中，懷孕的經驗具有繁複的精神與社會文化意涵，因此，本文將討論懷孕在《八月之光》的宗教、精神、文化、社會等多重面項。本文援引聖經中懷孕的典故，討論福克納作品中的宗教與精神脈絡；並透過巴克汀對嘉年華中怪異扭曲身體的討論，探索懷孕的女性身體可能具有文化社會的流動意涵。對於聖經中描述懷孕的神性，以及比對巴克汀所提的懷孕身體中神性與世俗兩種力量的拉鋸，本文將闡釋福克納小說中懷孕身體中上半身與下半身之間的流動對話意涵。最後，透過相互比對本文三位懷孕的女角色，萊納˙葛洛夫、米莉˙海恩以及喬安娜˙波頓，本文將挖掘懷孕在《八月之光》中所主現的對話與顛覆意涵。

William Faulkner claimed that his admiration for women activated his writing. In Light in August, this point is even more evident. More specifically, pregnant women and Milly Hines and the fraught pregnancy of Joanna Burden not only motivates the narration but provides depth to this book.As the representation of pregnancy encompasses complex spiritual and socio-cultural dimensions, pregnancy in Light in August is never an unmarked feature. Thus, it is the purpose of this paper to discuss the spiritual and sociocultural significance of pregnancy in this book. By applying Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of the grotesque body, this paper attempts to explore the significance of the pregnant body. In addition, by examining the biblical allusion, bringing in the dialectics of divinity and secularity in the cultural significance of pregnancy, this paper analyzes the ambivalence and dialectics in the lower and upper stratum of the human body. Moreover, by discussing the individual significance of pregnancy in Lena Grove, Joanna Burden, and Milly Hines in counterpoint to each other, this paper tries to relocate the significance of pregnancy and reveal the depth of pregnancy in the readings of Light in August.

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