Toxic bodies, homes, and nature : an ecofeminist reading of Helena María Viramontes's three works

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Title:	Toxic bodies, homes, and nature : an ecofeminist reading of Helena María Viramontes's three works
Other Titles:	毒身、家、自然 : 以生態女性主義解讀薇拉蒙特司的三本作品
Authors:	陳秋華;Chen, Chiu-hua
Contributors:	淡江大學英文學系博士班黃逸民;Huang, Peter I-min
Keywords:	物質女性主義;跨物質;毒身;奇哥娜;東洛杉磯;material feminism;trans-corporeality;toxic bodies;Chicana;East Los Angeles
Date:	2016
Issue Date:	2017-08-24 23:31:57 (UTC+8)
Abstract:	生態女性主義探討人類與社會、環境議題的相互關係，並且揭露父權體制對女性與土地的壓迫。普魯姆德(Val Plumwood)為生態女性主義提供哲學思考的面向並且撻伐二元對立的思考方式。另外，從物質女性主義的角度，阿萊默(Stacy Alaimo)的跨物質性(trans-corporeality)剖析物質與環境密不可分的關係。本論文以生態女性主義與物質女性主義的論點閱讀薇拉蒙特司(Helena María Viramontes)的三本作品：《蛾與其它短篇故事》(The Moths and Other Stories)(1985)、《在耶穌腳下》(Under the Feet of Jesus)(1995)、《狗跟他們來了》(Their Dogs Came with Them)(2007)。薇拉蒙特司擅長探討及奇哥娜(Chicana/o)族裔的疏離感、身體敘事與主體建構。本文共有五章。第一章介紹生態女性主義的各派論點，進而思考在二元對立的框架下，奇哥娜族裔所面臨的艱難處境。第二章以安莎杜亞(Gloria Anzaldúa)的邊界理論探討《蛾與其它短篇故事》中身體與邊界的主體性。藉由主體認同之議題道出奇哥娜族裔有如避之唯恐不及的次等身份。第三章以阿萊默的跨物質性理論探究《在耶穌腳下》小說中所呈現的環境正義議題。奇哥娜族裔之身體在美國加州的果園中遭受化學農藥的迫害。毒物肆虐，無一倖免。第四章以《狗跟他們來了》為例，小說中提及興建高速公路，進而改變了東洛磯區奇哥娜族裔社區之凋零。美其名，建設帶來經濟發展，而薇拉蒙特司實為暗批經濟糾葛與高速公路帶來的汙染為環境中毒物之變形。另外，小說中將狂犬病與墮落的奇哥娜社區劃上等號，視之為另一毒瘤，藉由想像的狂犬病控制並迫害奇哥娜族裔的社區居民。總括，本論文以世間物質之流動與轉換檢視薇拉蒙特司的三本作品呈現各式毒物的樣貌, 並闡述爭取環境公平正義。 Ecofeminists are concerned about interconnected social and environmental issues intent on breaking down oppression, deconstructing dualisms, and building up both egalitarian institutions and individual perceptions of the world. This dissertation discusses contributions of ecofeminism and material feminism proposed by theorists such as Val Plumwood and Stacy Alaimo. Plumwood identifies ecofeminism as an anti-dualistic theory. Furthermore, Alaimo’s influential theory of “trans-corporeality” examines how both visible and invisible materials move around and affect various forms of body images: human beings, non-human beings, place, and nature. The alienated Chicana/os perform different forms of body images while experiencing displacement of homes and isolation of exploitation. I examine Helena María Viramontes’s three texts to understand the interwoven connections of material feminism: The Moths and Other Stories (1985), Under the Feet of Jesus (1995), and Their Dogs Came with Them (2007). The chosen texts illuminate Viramontes’s different forms of toxicity respectively The Moths and Other Stories concerns about crossing borders and losing agency works as a form of toxin. Under the Feet of Jesus cares about the dangerous influence of pesticides on the farms of California. And Their Dogs Came with Them discusses about the development of freeways as a form of pollution and the imagined rabies can be used to control Chicana/o communities. This dissertation is divided into five chapters. Chapter One introduces methodologies of ecofeminism, namely, how the harmful dualisms affect Chicana/os of different generations. Chapter Two explicates Gloria Anzaldúa’s theory of borders and the interrelationship among body, borders, and agency. Chapter Three explores historical background of farmworkers in Los Angeles. Environmental justice demonstrates how toxicity permeates cultural, social, and environmental systems in applying Stacy Alaimo’s trans-corporeality. As Chapter Four analyzes the subverting power fights against the colonial domination and the imagined disease. Through the research, it is shown that multiple perspectives of perceiving Viramontes’s literary work and to whom Viramontes tends to speak. This dissertation concludes that Viramontes urges readers to perceive entangled implications of materials and bodies.
Appears in Collections:	[Graduate Institute & Department of English] Thesis

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