貧窮的危殆情緒勞務《美麗國度》的無證移民敘事

The Precarity of Emotion Work in Poverty: Undocumented Immigrant Narratives in Beautiful Country

本文藉由閱讀亞美作家王乾的《美麗國度》，特別是文本對貧窮經驗與情感的描繪，探究無證移民的生命敘事在拓展當代貧窮文化再現與知識生產上的意義，以及匱乏經驗如何重新形塑跨太平洋移民的美國夢。在闡述《美麗國度》對於貧窮的再現與文化想像時，本文採用貧窮研究的跨領域取徑與論述，聚焦於無證移民所面臨的貧窮困境，分析無證移民如何在種族、經濟與文化交錯的多重低端階序中，透過情緒勞務維持自我尊嚴和為自我創造生存的可能。本文主張王乾的貧窮生命敘事，深化了貧窮研究與知識生產裡對於窮人在私領域與社會關係中承擔情緒勞務的理解，並進一步指出，貧者在爭取與維繫自我尊嚴的過程中，其情緒勞務往往處於高度不穩定與危殆的狀態。《美麗國度》的敘事不僅彰顯了貧窮生命經歷與情感的複雜性，也重申了尊嚴作為當代貧窮敘事核心價值的重要性。

This essay explores the affective dimensions of poverty by analyzing the life narrative of undocumented immigrants in Qian Julie Wang’s Beautiful Country. It examines how Wang’s memoir contributes to the cultural representation and contemporary knowledge production of poverty narratives and how the experience of impoverishment reshapes and redefines the American Dream for transpacific immigrants. Adopting an interdisciplinary approach to poverty studies, the essay highlights the persistent struggles faced by undocumented immigrants and investigates how they navigate intersecting racial, economic, and cultural hierarchies of marginalization. Specifically, it explores how emotion work enables the underclass to cultivate a sense of dignity and make living possible. This essay argues that Wang’s narrative expands scholarly discussions on the affective labor undertaken by the poor in both private and social relationships. Furthermore, it underscores the precarious nature of such emotion work in securing and maintaining dignity, reaffirming its significance as a fundamental human right in contemporary portrayals of impoverished lives.