从后殖民主义角度解读《贫民窟的百万富翁》及其成功

Interpretation of Slumdog Millionaire and Its Success from the Perspective of Post-colonialism

摘要

当今，随着电影数量越来越多，电影已成为人们生活中重要的消遣方式之一。基本上说来，电影中所折射的一些价值观及理念会对人们产生影响。毋庸置疑，现在许多的西方电影都对东方观众产生着越来越大的影响。但是，我们却不难发现，一些描绘东方的西方电影在一定程度上扭曲了真正的东方，而且与此同时，这些影片也故意美化了西方。

《贫民窟的百万富翁》是一部2008年由导演丹尼·博伊尔所执导的英国影片。它是根据印度作家兼外交家维卡斯·史瓦卢普的小说《Q&A》改编的。该影片是一个伟大的成功，它获得了2009年奥斯卡金像奖的10项提名，并荣获其中8项殊荣。这是它成为了2009年电影圈里的最大赢家，也使之成为最热门话题。除了演员们精湛的演技和扣人心弦的情节，该影片所揭露的一些深刻内涵也是使之成为人们关注焦点的一个原因，那就是东方与西方的关系话语。

基于以上事实，本篇论文以《贫民窟的百万富翁》作为研究对象，旨在从后殖民角度去分析该影片及其成功的原因。本文的意义在于对新时期我国如何定位本土文化提出一些见解。

简单说来，本文可以划分成五个部分。第一部分是关于我写本文的动机及其意义。第二部分是关于后殖民主义理论和相关电影的文献综述。第三部分是运用爱德华·赛义德的东方主义理论和霍米·巴巴的文化杂糅理论来详细分析影片《贫民窟的百万富翁》。第四部分是从后殖民主义角度去探索该影片成功的原因。最后部分是结论和一些建议。

关键词：后殖民主义,东方主义,文化杂糅，电影

Abstract
Nowadays, as the number of films accumulates, they have become an important entertainment in people’s life. Basically, some values and concepts reflected in films will influence the individuals. It is an undeniable truth that now many western films are having an increasingly huge impact on the eastern audience. However, we can easily find some that depict the Orient, to some extent, distort the real eastern countries and, meanwhile, they intentionally beatify the Occident.
Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British film directed by Danny Boyle. It is an adaptation of the novel Q&A by an Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup. As a great hit, the film was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight, becoming the biggest winner and the hottest topic in the movie field in 2009. Apart from the excellent performance of the actors and the exciting plot, the reason why there is so much focus on it is also due to some deep connotations revealing in the film, the discourse of the relationship between the West and the East.
Based on these facts, this thesis chooses the film Slumdog Millionaire as object. It intends to analyze the film and explore the reasons for its success from the perspective of post-colonialism. The significance of this thesis is to present some ideas about how to locate our own culture in the new age.
This thesis can be simply divided into five parts. The first part is about why I write this thesis and its significance. The second part is literature review of post-colonial theories and films with post-colonialism. The third part is the detailed analysis of the film Slumdog Millionaire with the application of Edward Said’s theory on orientalism and Homi Bhabha’s cultural hybridization. The fourth part is the exploration of reasons for its success from the post-colonial perspective. The last part is the conclusion and some suggestions.
Key words: post-colonialism, orientalism, cultural hybridization, films

Contents

摘要 II

Abstract III

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature Review 3

2.1 Review of Post-colonial Theories 3

2.1.1 Said and Orientalism 3

2.1.2 Homi Bhabha and Cultural Hybridization 4

2.2 Review of Films with Post-colonialism 4

2.2.1 Ang Lee’s Films 4

2.2.2 Comments on Slumdog Millionaire 5

3  Post-colonialism Reflected in the Film 6

3.1 The Discriminatory Word: Slumdog 6

3.2 Cultural Hybridization in the Film 7

3.3 The Exaggeration of Indian Social Problems 7

3.4 The Distorted Characterization 9

4  Reasons for Its Success from the Post-colonial View 11

4.1 Satisfying Psychological Needs of Western Audience 11

4.2 Attracted by the West 12

5  Conclusion 14

References 16