蘇珊．葛列絲貝戲劇中的地方與性別 本研究計畫試圖以兩年期的時間詳細探討蘇珊．葛列絲貝（Susan Glaspell 1876-1948）的戲劇作品，並以「地方」（place）與「性別」（gender）作為貫穿的主題。葛列絲貝在美國二十世紀戲劇史上有重要的地位，尤其是她創立的「普羅文斯頓演員劇場」（Provincetown Players）促進美國二十世紀初的「小劇場運動」。葛列絲貝在世時，她的作品大受歡迎，《艾利森的房子》（Alison’s House 1930）更獲得普利茲戲劇獎。然而在她死後，作品卻乏人問津。直到第二波女性主義運動，女性主義者開始回顧並發掘女性前輩作家的作品，他們發現了葛列絲貝的《瑣事》（Trifles 1916），並稱葛列絲貝為「遺失的寶石」。爾後，葛列絲貝的戲劇作品一再被上演，相關的文獻探討也如雨後春筍。 本研究計畫意欲全面性地探討葛列絲貝的十一部戲劇作品，並探討葛列絲貝的女性主義空間觀。葛列絲貝的戲劇常被視為充滿豐富地方色彩的寫實主義作品，其中體現了美國中西部的文化特質。然而，這種將某一地域視為一個固定的封閉概念，侷限了葛列絲貝戲劇作品的多元面貌。因而，本研究計畫採以開放的「地方」角度重新閱讀葛列絲貝的作品，探討「性別關係」在地方有所差別地被建構而成，而地方認同也因性別關係而改變。 Place and Gender in Susan Glaspell’s Plays This plan expects to spend two years analyzing Susan Glaspell’s plays thoroughly from the perspectives of place and gender. Susan Glaspell (1876-1948) plays an important role in the 20th-century American literature; particularly, her plays and the theater, Provincetown Players founded by her, are connected with the Little Theatre Movement in America. Glaspell’s plays were commercially and critically welcome by the people at her time, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Alison’s House (1930), solidified her reputation. However, her plays faded from public interest after her death. It was not until feminists in the second-wave Women’s Liberation Movement rediscovered Trifles (1916) that Glaspell finally reclaimed her significant status in the history of American theatre. Now Glaspell is regarded as a “lost gem.” Her plays are popular again and celebrated by audiences and critics nowadays. Reading eleven of her plays, this plan intends to examine Glaspell’s concept of feminist space. Recognized today as a realistic playwright, Glaspell describes the wilderness of Midwestern towns. Her plays are filled with a strong sense of place; especially critics focus on her local color of Iowa in her works. Nevertheless, the concept of place is not supposed to be restricted to a certain region because the fixed and enclosed concept of place limits the diversity of Glaspell’s plays. This plan, therefore, sees place as an open mix related with other social institutions, and it aims to explain how gender relations are constructed differently in different places and how the identification of place is associated with gender relations in Glaspell’s plays.
