Race, Gender and Sexuality in Clock without Hands 《没有指针的钟》中的种族、性别和性向问题文献综述

 2022-01-05 07:01

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文献综述

1.Introduction1.1 Research backgroundThe issue of homosexuality in America dates back to the 1870s. For a long time, heterosexuality was the only way of life, and homosexuality was regarded as a religious sin and a legal crime. In the middle and late 19th century, the industrial revolution in America provided an opportunity for the development of homosexual tendencies. During World War I, homosexuals gradually formed some small and stable social groups. The mobilization of war during World War II prepared sufficient social conditions for the formation of homosexual subculture. People have more opportunities to know each other and promote the formation of homosexual identity. In addition, the military provided separate places of entertainment for female soldiers to prevent their pregnancy, which prompted a large number of lesbians. But in the 1950s, because of the cold war and anti-communist policy, homosexuality rose to be a policy issue, and homosexuals were considered a threat to national security. In the 1960s, as homosexual subculture flourished in America, people began to understand homosexuality from the perspective of social science. The reform of homosexual discrimination began to gain support from judges and lawyers. Through continuous reform, homosexuals are gradually treated equally.Carson McCullers works describe lonely people. Themes of loneliness, isolation and alienation always run through all her works and are engraved on all aspects of her personal life. In her works, the deformed body often only shows a persons lack of ability to give and to accept love, which is a situation full of extreme pain. Countless people from her imaginary world are misguided and mutilated, but try to discover the meaning and purpose of life through complete spiritual attachment between people, and she never thinks that this behavior is abnormal. In her eyes, their world is upside down and alienated, believing that the code of conduct has no norms, meaningless, purposeless, and powerless. Some articles criticize the apparent deformity and strangeness of some of her characters, and she responds that nature is not abnormal, only lifelessness is abnormal (McCullers, 1971, 277). In brief, Carson McCullers created the blacks, the minority, female, homosexuals, and other characters in Clock without hands, reflecting the race and gender problems in the society at that time. 1.2 Literature Review Carson McCullers is one of the most important American writers in the 20th century. Although many of her novels have been studied by scholars, interest of study on Clock without hands has only increased in recent years.Several articles are intended to define marginalized groups. Hans (2018) research theme focuses on marginal people, including the blacks, the minority, female and homosexuals. She, combining these characters with those in McCullers novels, conducts a survey on the social discourse of the marginalized groups and clarifies their cultural situation. By writing about marginal people, McCullers reveals the complex contradiction and resistance between the marginal groups and the mainstream of society. Sobal (1986) gives a definition that marginal people include: women, teenagers, the elderly, blacks, singles, unelected, immigrant, unemployed and socially disadvantaged individuals. He states that the concept of marginal person presents a general trend, gradually referring to the race, color, culture, sexual orientation, habits, psychology and other aspects of conflict with the social core population of all kinds of people.Most of the literature focuses on Sherman and Jester. Kong (2016) analyzes Sherman and Jester from the theme of alienation. He claims that because of the alienation, Sherman is neither accepted in the black community nor in the white. Jester determined to fight for racial equality. It proposes strategies of self-salvation and anti-alienation. With Eros and art, Kong believes that Jester successfully resists the assimilation of industrial civilization and keeps his independent mind intact. Cui (2012) also uses the same theme to analyze the impact of social force. She probes the manifestations of alienation in the work carefully: social forces of power and money make alienation, the alienation of human relations and the self-alienation of the people. She also discusses the writers comprehension and expression of alienation. The final section of Cuis essay explores how McCullers works for reflection and exploration of the anti-alienation. She points out that after the alien force of the external social and interpersonal and self-alienation, people can only turn to their hearts to look for a breakthrough from the self-reflection. Wang (2018) analyzes the reasons for the Shermans existential crisis from the perspective of existentialism and she explains the reason why Jester is compared to a lonely hunter. She argues that Sherman struggled in a marginalized situation and finally chose to prove his existence through resistance against racism. Jester who suffers from alienation and gradually recognizes his difference in the process of pursuing an authentic self. Jing and Zhu (2015) suggest that Shermans conceit is a manifestation of inferiority. So even when his life is threatened, he is still obsessed with the luxury goods he buys. They believe that racism and consumerism distort Sherman original intention of fighting for the nation. Jesters ideas are closest to that of John Brown. Jester, as a white man, fights against racialism by less radical means than John Brown does. The effect is the same. Other articles are intended to reflect the social discrimination against marginalized groups by analyzing different characters. Tian (2011) analyzes the novels assumed worldliness of Shermans personality, in the hope of revealing how McCullers writes up desire of the other and the ethnic politics and history of the American South in the 1950s. Zhou (2010) analyzes representative figures of McCullers-ize loneliness and dissects them from physiological and psychological perspective, the view of the aesthetics of illness. Jester and Sherman are looking for the meaning of life. In fact, they are lonely people looking for the delivery of love. When they find the injustice and darkness of the society, discontent and hatred erupt and they begin to take revenge. Besides, Yu (2017) uses Foucauldian concept of power to analyze the characters under the power of discipline. The resistance, regardless of gender, race, class, are in ubiquitous net of power. The characters in the novel struggle for liberation, despite some fail, still hide hope and strength. Kou (2019) holds the view that the disease in the novel is not only a human disease, but also a social disease. These diseases are caused by social prejudice. He said that McCullers writing of disease is a self-dispatch and helps readers gain spiritual strength and self-rescue. Besides, Brennan (2012) thinks that the theme of death and creativity can all be revealed in the spiritual experience of the main characters in the novel. When life approaches to the end, people will get the epiphany of self redemption and turn the sorrow into the dignity, in which the core of McCullers lies.Since, in the existing research, there is no intersectional reading of race and gender problems in Carson McCullers Clock without hands, it is necessary to carry out this study on this novel.1.3 Need of the study The characters in Clock without hands are vividly presented through the description of their language, action and manner. The experiences of these characters reflect the social reality in American South during the 1950s. Through these characters, the author shows her views on society and makes readers feel powerless to change for their own destiny. In the previous studies, most scholars studied the background and theme of the novel, and there was very little research on characters, especially on the intersection of multiple discriminations. So my research aims to fill this gap. In this paper, I focus on the multiple identities of characters, and strive to analyze this theme thoroughly.ReferencesBrennan, F. (2012). Clock without hands: Carson McCullers and the rhythms of living and dying. American journal of hospice and palliative medicine, 30, 312-316.Sobal, J. (1986). Bias against marginal individuals in jury wheel selection. Journal of criminal justice, 1, 71. Kong, Y. (2016). A critical analysis of technological alienation in Clock without hands (Masters dissertation). Jiangnan University, Wuxi, Jiangsu.McCullers, C. (1971). The heart is a lonely hunter. New York: Bantam Books. McCullers, C. (2008). The member of the wedding. London: Penguin Classics. McCullers, C. (1971). The flowering dream: Notes on writing. In M. G. Smith (Ed.), The mortgaged heart (pp.277-284). Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co..Gleeson, W. S. (2003). Strange bodies: Gender and identity in the novels of Carson McCullers. The US: The university of Alabama press.Wang, Y. (2018). An analysis of Clock without hands from the perspective of existentialism (Masters dissertation). Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, Guangzhou, Guangdong.Yu, C. (2017). Discipline and resistance a Foucauldian study of Clock without hands (Masters dissertation). Central China Normal University, Wuhan, Hubei.麦卡勒斯，卡森（2015），《伤心咖啡馆之歌》（The ballad of the sad cafe），李文俊译校。

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