浅析福柯视域下《别让我走》中的反乌托邦主题_英语论文

On the Dystopian Theme of Never Let Me Go－a Foucault’s Perspective

摘要

石黑一雄，日裔英籍小说家、剧作家，出生于日本长崎。作为英国文学界最知名的当代科幻小说作家之一，石黑一雄曾四次荣获布克奖提名。在他的第六部作品《别让我走》中，他选择了克隆这一敏感的主题，深度挖掘一个科技至上的世界中人性的扭曲与异化，并凭借独到的叙事手法以及深刻的人物刻画而使该部作品受到广泛关注。

科技的滥用不可避免地带来了人性的异化、伦理的冲突、以及阶级的压迫。本文旨在通过文本分析法剖析《别让我走》中的反乌托邦色彩。正文部分由五个主要章节构成。引言部分主要包括反乌托邦主题的研究背景、文献综述与本文的研究视角。第一章将分析高度发达的科技与自由的对立。结合米歇尔·福柯有关规训与惩罚的理论，本章将着重分析克隆人默然接受自身作为器官供体命运的原因。克隆人被豢养在所谓的寄宿学校中，而根据福柯对于规训机构的观点，黑尔舍姆就是一座完美的“圆形监狱”，因为它不仅禁锢了孩子们的身体，同时束缚了他们的思想。第二章阐释了小说背后潜藏的权力压迫。人类社会中的种族和阶级压迫也逐渐延伸到这些被物化的“人”身上。本章将着重讨论小说中压迫者的压制手段以及被压迫者的无奈抗争。第三章解析了克隆人和人类所面临的伦理困境。被人类社会边缘化的克隆人作为“他者”而存在，并不断追寻自我身份。结论部分将反思反乌托邦文学的合理性：人类应当适当放缓科技发展的速度，承担好驾驭科技的责任，否则任何违反人性的尝试都将给人类带来灭顶之灾。

关键词：《别让我走》；石黑一雄；反乌托邦；米歇尔·福柯；《规训与惩罚》 

Abstract

Kazuo Ishiguro, a British novelist and screenwriter, was born in Nagasaki, Japan; Ishiguro is now one of the most renowned fiction writers in the world and he has received four Man Booker Prize nominations so far. In his sixth novel Never Let Me Go, he selected a touchy motif—clone in order to disclose the distortion and alienation of human nature in a world with highly-developed science. It received extensive attention owing to his distinctive narrative approach as well as the profound character designs.

Technology abuse inextricably links with the alienation of human nature, ethical conflicts, and class oppression. This thesis intends to dissect these dystopian tints from three major aspects by means of textual analysis. Specifically, this paper is comprised of five chapters. The introductory chapter consists of the study background, literature review, and the research perspective. Chapter one analyzes the opposition between the excessively-developed technology and the freedom. This chapter, in the light of the theories Michel Foucault proposed in his Discipline and Punish, will try to figure out why the children acquiesce to their fate as donors. Specifically, clones were domesticated in their boarding school, Hailsham, which could be seen as a perfect model of disciplinary institute according to Foucault’s ideas of “Panopticon” because it stifled both their thoughts and bodies. Chapter two expounds the insidious power behind Hailsham. The class and racial oppression in the human world are extended to the materialized clones as they are reduced to the status of servants. This chapter explicates the two major means executed by the oppressors and the rebellion of clones. Chapter three expatiates the ethical dilemma confronted by clones and human beings. The marginalized Clone are treated as “others” and keep seeking for their own identities. The conclusion part will reflect on the rationality of dystopian literature: human should properly slow down the pace of scientific progress and undertake the responsibility to keep the technology in control, otherwise dehumanization will bring us catastrophes. 

Keywords: Never Let Me Go; Kazuo Ishiguro; dystopia; Michel Foucault; Discipline and Punish 

Contents

Acknowledgements i

摘要 ii

Abstract iii

Introduction 1

Chapter One Unfettered Cloning: Bonanza for Medical Science or Deprivation of Freedom 6

1.1 Docile Bodies: Clones Domesticated in Panopticon 6

1.2 Subjected Wills: Pursuits of Freedom and Disillusion 11

Chapter Two Racial and Class Oppression: Insidious power in Never Let Me Go 17

2.1 Pseudo Generosity: Make Clones Better Servants 17

2.2 Indoctrination: Acquiescence of Being Oppressed 19

Chapter Three Ethical Dilemma in High-tech Age: Are They Really Different? 22

3.1 Ethical Environment for Clones: Anthropocentrism 22

3.2 Marginalized Status of Clones: The Social Identities of Clone as the Other 24

Conclusion 27

Works Cited 29