艾特伍 <<秀色可餐>> 之變形記

論文提要內容: 在瑪格莉特. 艾特伍之> 中，拉崗式的閱讀揭露了文本中之象徵式食人主義(symbolic cannibalism ) ，鏡像理論乃是拉崗理論架構之雛型，雖然他後續對理論作了潤飾。拉崗式理論之核心在於匱缺(lack)。鏡中的影像乃是個金鐘罩(armour)，其功用在於保護主體，使其遠離支離破碎的身體意象，達到肉身再塑、毫髮無損之意象。換句話說，在拉崗的論述中，此過程既是一種錯生(meconnaissances), 亦是接肢法的(orthopaedic) 功能，目的在於形塑主體心中合而為一與充足飽滿之錯覺。相同地，象徵界(the Symbolic Order) 亦為主體編織一套巧製而成的幻象(fantasy) 來掩飾其背後之匱缺。此目的在於規範與臣服主體，易於收編的過程。 此論文乃欲揭露在>中的幻象。文本中之象徵式食人主義被挪用來建構幻象，將女性框架於由男性建構的女性典範。文本中的女主角看穿了幻象背後所掩飾的匱缺。她的自覺掀起了一連串之自我分離及厭食症。諸如此類 vii 的現象與拉崗式幻真界(the Real)的範疇有異曲同工之妙。女主角能從厭食症復原導因於她對於此不平衡關係的自覺。此關係將她歸類為被消費者及被獵食者。克理絲蒂娃厭棄(abjection) 的理論對於檢視女主角烘焙及吃下蛋糕之舉動提供了具有剖析度的見解。此舉動在於擺脫危害她主體性且擾亂自我與他者區隔之元素。 厭食症長久以來被認為是主體為要迎合消費市場意識型態的策略。如此一來，主體乃保有其經濟價值，並能在經濟市場上流通。透過精神分析式之閱讀，我們體認到厭食症亦可被挪用來抵制那臣服於外在氛圍籠罩下意識型態的自我。以文本中女主角的例子而言，與其說她的厭食症是為了迎合象徵性食人主義的手段，不如說這是個反撲外在氛圍的策略。Lacanian reading of Margaret Atwood’s The Edible Woman offers a way to lay bare the symbolic cannibalism that lies at the center of this text. Theory of the mirror stage is the prototype of Lacan’s theoretical structure though Lacan gradually embellished his theories as he found necessary. The focal point of Lacanian theory lies in “lack.” The mirror image serves as an armour that protects the subject from realizing a sense of incompleteness and fragmentation in part of the subject. In other words, this process is “orthopaedic” and “meconnaissances” in Lacanian terms, which functions to weave an image of totality and plentitude for the subject. Similarly, the Symbolic Order weaves a fantasy for the subject in order to cover up the lack. Such an act aims to regulate and subjugate the subject for easy manipulation. This thesis attempts to lay bare the fantasy in The Edible Woman. That is, the symbolic cannibalism is employed as a fantasy to entrap women into a model of femininity, which is constructed by the male idea. The female protagonist in this text sees through the rupture in such a fantasy. Her awareness ushers in a stage of self-laceration and eating disorder, which manifest themselves as working of the Real. Marian’s recovery from anorexia results from her awareness of such an asymmetrical relationship which posits her as the consumed and the hunted. Julia Kristeva’s ix theory of abjection is a useful and insightful tool to examine Marian’s gesture of baking and eating a cake for herself. Such a gesture is, in fact, a way to rid herself of what endangers her sense of subjectivity and what disturbs her distinction between self and other. Anorexia is traditionally conceived as a strategy of the subject to cater to the ideology of the consumer market. In that way, the subject remains a product to be able to circulate in the economy market and maintains its economy value. Through psychoanalytical reading of anorexia nervosa, we understand that such a symptom is employed as a strategy to rebel against part of the self that succumbs to the discursive ideology. In the case of Marian, anorexia is not so much a way to cater to the symbolic cannibalism as a strategy to fight against such a discursive atmosphere