離散神話與西進女英雄再造：穆可杰《茉莉》的第三世界女性身體經驗與變形意涵

Diaspora Myth and the Reconstruction of Heroine in the Frontier Movement: Third World Woman’s Body Experiences and Meanings of Transformation in Bharati Mukherjee’s Jasmine

在全球化趨勢與新一波的移民熱潮中，來自第三世界的移民女性創造了新的勞資結構與經濟關係，但她們新的身分認同也同樣面臨考驗。在新的環境中，取得真正的西方公民權是最終的目標，但在成為公民的過程中，更多關於性別、身份與國家的衝突與協調關係也隨之浮現，做為離散的第三世界女性，自我的身份認同與外來的形象塑造，經常彼此拉扯著。因此，在移動的過程中，身體經驗的書寫成了最佳的發聲管道，而第三世界女性在第一世界中的經驗成了珍貴的資料。本文將以巴巴的弱勢論述（minority discourse）為切入點，以他提出的「第三空間」（the Third Space）或是「補述空間」（supplementary space）這個概念，探討印度裔美國籍女作家穆可杰（Bharati Mukherjee）的《茉莉》（Jasmine,1989）一書中，女主角茉莉如何透過自己在跨界游離的空間中，以位居邊緣的第三世界女性身體經驗選擇她的身份認同，並分析穆可杰如何藉由茉莉的身體變形，以及茉莉情慾的自主與決定權，進而塑造一位新世代移民西進女英雄。在眾多的研究文獻中，女主角茉莉的身份是如何轉變，一直是討論得重點，因此就涉及了身體在移動過程中，與空間以及人事物互動的關係，茉莉如何透過身體而感知到真正的美國與自我，將是本文的分析重點，而筆者也以茉莉從奇蹟式的轉形進而成了具體的行動之間的轉折，探討穆可杰塑造的真正移民女英雄，作為第三世界女性邊緣論述之價值與精神所在。

In the globalization trend and new wave of immigration, women who come from the Third World have recreated a navel tie between the owner-labor and economy while their newly acquired identities still face challenges. To gain the privilege of naturalization is the final goal of these immigrant women. Therefore, issues such as gender, identities and nationality pop up and create conflicts as much as negotiations in the course of these women's becoming new citizens. To be a diasporic woman of the third world, the opposing forces of maintaining an identity from an inner self and bearing a new image toward the outer world weave and drag each other accordingly. Nevertheless, writing on bodily experience makes the voice outspoken. The experience to get involved in the first world by these Third World women becomes valuable information for further research. This article, however, will apply the theory of minority discourse from Homi Bhabha to study Bharati Mukherjee's Jasmine (1989) with the concept of the Third Space or supplementary space to trace the choice of Jasmine's identity to be posited in the space of dislocation and the marginal. Furthermore, this article will analyze how Mukherjee reconstructed a heroine of the new-generation in the frontier movement. This is structured by empowering Jasmine's body transformation and self consciousness of sexual desire. Among the abundant research and studies, the switch of Jasmine's names and identities often turns out to be the pivot of discussion. Yet, transformation of the body will interact with space and people of the surroundings. How Jasmine perceives the real America and the self through her body experience is the central concern of this article. Finally, this article will probe into the new spirit and value of a new immigrant heroine whom Mukherjee created through turning her from miracle transformation to objective action.