從契訶夫筆下的女性空間探討十九世紀末的俄國女性議題

Female Issues in the 19th Century Russia in Light of the Chekhov's Theme of Space and It’s Role in the Lives of Women

空間對於人類具有重要的意義，它不僅是人類生存的背景，更是生存本身。列斐伏爾的《空間生產》強調空間不是空洞的概念；它充斥著人工的痕跡，往往被世俗化、結構化，並被刻意地按照社會人群之間的關係佈署。傅柯更將空間拓展到與個體關係的討論。他認為個人與空間有著相互影響的關係，個人在特殊的空間裡被塑造。
在父權制度下，女性往往被男性的空間所束縛，其中包括家庭空間與社會公共空間。由於長期寄居於男性空間下，女性失去了自我的獨立性，依附在男性主宰的世界，她們找不到屬於自己的空間，於是就產生了空間焦慮。
傳統俄國社會的宗法制度將女性禁錮在「閨閣」中，沒有參與男人事物的權利。她們被劃定在家庭裡，承擔所有的勞務：孩子、家務與生計，但是沒有發言權。儘管祖國土地遼闊，俄國女性在本質上是俄羅斯帝國的「他者」，一個局外人。俄羅斯的男人可以享受國家無邊無界的廣大「地理空間」與帝國製造的「權力空間」，而婦女對這樣的地理提供的種種狀況卻一無所知，毫不相干。她們看不到廣闊的家鄉，帝俄時代，被圈在「家庭」的空間裡，到了蘇聯時代之後，則大多被圈在城鎮的生活空間裡，一成不變的工作與生活空間，狹窄、寂寞、無助、缺乏互動。她們被家務、被貧窮、被謀求生計的連續失敗與疲憊壓倒。
十九世紀末俄羅斯社會轉型，女性議題浮出檯面，受到許多知識份子的關注與討論。其中亦包括作家契訶夫，他關心俄國女性的內在空間、自我認知與社會身份認同的問題，並在許多作品中反應俄國當時的女性議題討論。本論文擬將空間理論置於契訶夫的小說中加以論證空間與個人的關係，以房間、房屋、內在空間、滯留空間與嚮往城市等面向切入，探究十九世紀末的俄國女性議題。

Space is important for human beings; it is not only the background of human existence but the existence itself. Lefebvre’s argument in The Production of Space is that space is always secularized, structuralized and organized by social relationships; it is filled with artificial traces rather than an empty concept. Further, Foucault expands spatial theory to the discussion of interpersonal relationship. He thinks individuals and space are mutual influenced. Individual is shaped in certain space.
In patriarchal systems, female are constrained by male space which includes family space and public space. Because having attached to male space for a long time, women lose their independency. Attaching to the male-dominant world, women cannot find their own space so that their spatial anxiety emerges.
Russian society’s traditional patriarchal system imprisoned women in attic; women had no right to participate in male affairs. Women were secluded in houses and shouldered all chores, such as childcare and housework. Although Russia is broad, Russian women were the “others” in Russian empire. Russian men could enjoy the broad geographical space and the imperial power space, but Russian women received no benefit from these advantages. In Russian era, women were secluded in home; in Soviet age, women were secluded in town. They were defeated by housework, poverty, and failure in making living.
In the end of 19th century, Russian society had transformed. Woman issues had emerged and caught the attention of a lot of intellectuals. Chekhov was one of these intellectuals. He concerned Russian women’s inner space, self-awareness and social identification. He also put the discussion of woman issue into his works. This paper aims at discussing the relationship between space and individual in Chekhov’s novels with spatial theory and probing Russian woman issues in the end of 19th century from the perspectives of room, house, inner space, stranded space and desire for cities.