The Roaring Waves under the Still Water

【摘要】 艾麗絲·門羅無疑已成為當(dāng)今世界文壇最為著名的作家及最熱門的研究議題之一，她在代表作《逃離》中描繪了生活在其家鄉(xiāng)小鎮(zhèn)的普通女性的平凡生活--她們無一不在家庭瑣碎間掙扎，在生老病死中游走。但這種波瀾不驚卻深深吸引了一眾讀者，究其原因，拋開門羅巧妙的敘事策略，很大程度上是因為她以女性獨有的細膩筆觸寫出了這一派平靜生活下的波濤暗涌，深刻地探討了心理的復(fù)雜性，尤其是當(dāng)中關(guān)于女性心理的普魯特式描寫既引人入勝又發(fā)人省醒。因而本文以此為切入點，運用卡倫·霍爾奈、拉康等人的理論探討女性的心理特點--富于變化，有時甚至游走于情感的兩個極端，同時通過分析指出造成這種心理變化的根源在于社會價值規(guī)訓(xùn)與女性追求獨立自主、構(gòu)建自我身份間的矛盾。

【關(guān)鍵詞】 艾麗絲·門羅 《逃離》 女性心理學(xué)

【Abstract】 It is a truth universally acknowledged that Alice Munro has become one of the best-known writers and the hottest research issues. In her representative work Runaway， she depicted the ordinary lives of common women in her hometown， all of who struggled against the household drudgery and wandered between life and death. But the peace and tranquility has deeply attracted so many readers. Apart from the ingenious narrative skills， the reason mainly lies in her illustration into the complexity of the human psychology， and especially the Proutsian portrayal of the female psychology is attractive as well as thought-provoking. Therefore， this essay tries to make a brief analysis of Runaway from the perspective of feminist psychology mainly with the application of the theory of Caron Honey and Lacan. It also studies the characteristics of the female psychology-- their consciousness is full of unpredictability and changeability， and sometimes may leap between two opposites of emotions. However， at the same time， it clearly points out that the root lies in the contradiction between the system of discipline and the female’s pursuit of independence and identify construction.

【Key words】 Alice Munro Runaway feminist psychology

I. Introduction

As the 2013 Nobel Prize winner for literature， Alice Munro （1931- ） is one of the best-known short story writers in the western literature. Since the publishment of her first work Dance of the Happy Shades in 1968， she has created fourteen works totally. Munro is the recipient of such many literary accolades， who won the Man Booker International Prize in 2009， and she is also a three-time winner of the Canada’s Governor General’s Award， in addition to the Nobel Prize mentioned above. These works have established her as “a master of the contemporary short story”， or as Cynthia Ozick put it， “our Chekhov”. Numerous honors have aroused the curiosities about the glamour of her works. At the first sight， it seems that Munro just described a picture of the lives of ordinary women from life to death in her native Huron County in southwestern Ontario. However， under such a seemingly quiet life， her penetrating exploration of human complexities， especially the intricate and Proustian portrayal of the female psychology is attractive as well as thought-provoking.

Studies on Munro and her works have started in the 1980s and there have constantly appeared related essays and monographs since the 90s. Among these research findings， Probable Fictions： Alice Munro’s Narrative Acts （1983） compiled by Louis MacKendrick and The Art of Alice Munro： Saying the Unsayable （1984）， the collected papers edited by Judith Miller formed the general directions of the researches on Munro’s fictions—mainly from the perspectives of narrative strategies and female themes. With the development， the research contents became more and more abundant based on the above results， which gradually developed into five directions. Apart from the two have mentioned above， the others were done from the following aspects： 1） some studies were carried out from the perspective of archetypal criticism exploring the connections between the myths and the works， for example， McCombs’ Searching Bluebeard’s Chambers： Grimn， Gothic and Bible Mysteries in Alice Munro’s The Love of a Good Woman （2000）； 2） some scholars concentrated on the regional characteristics such as Munro’s Wonderland by Brandon Conron in which the author believed that Huron County was as significant as Yoknapatawpha in Faulkner’s novels； 3） the autobiographic nature also caught some researchers’ interests， like Robert Thacker who dedicated himself into Alice Munro： Writing Her Lives （2005）.

Domestic relevant researches appeared much later. The earliest studies should be traced back to 2000， and most of them are introductory articles. “Munro” studies have not been warming until Runaway was translated into Chinese by Li Wenjun in 2009. Then this novel soon became a very hot issue in the field of “Munro studies”， and most of the findings are associated with feministic points of view more or less. However， on one hand， there has still been no relevant monograph； on the other hand， few of them analyzed the text from the feminist-psychology angle. On the present， feminism has gone through bottleneck to some extent， and it is undoubtable that the leavetaking-and-homecoming journeys described in Runaway offer Munro’s thoughts on feminism issues and her insights into feminist psychology. Therefore， this essay aims to analyze this text from the perspective of feminist psychology， trying to explain and deal with the predicament and marginalization of the female from a new point of view.

II. The Roaring Waves under the Still Water

“The Principle of Iceberg” was first put forward by Hemingway in his Death in the Afternoon in which he compared literature creation to the iceberg floating on the ocean. What he tried to explain is that the majesty of the iceberg is caused by that just a small part exposes above the water； and similarly， the writer should also only describe the “afloat part” to allow the reader’s rich imagination indicated through the text message. In Runaway， Munro uses this principle to a great extent-- the peaceful and quiet life is just “a tip of the iceberg”， and the waves of the mindset and emotions of those female characters’ roar under the surface of the still water. And because of this reason， Hooper regarded this fiction as one of Munro’s “deepest psychological penetrations”. So， the sections below focus on the analysis of the myriads of changes and the contradictory conflicts of the feminist psychology， and the related reasons for that.

i. Tendency of Neurosis

In his paper A Hopeful Sign： The Making of Mytonymic Meaning in Munro’s “Meneseteung”， Pam Houston compared the mental differences between men and women to those between metaphor and metonymy， which makes use of Lacan’s theories. As it is known， “similarity” is the basis of metaphor while mytonymy is based upon relatedness； to be more specific， in a metaphor， the source domain and the target domain must have some resemblances， while in a mytonymy， the two domains are not necessarily similar but closely connected. So， for these reasons， Houston held the opinion that the metaphor is safe， restrictive as well as solid； on the contrary， the mytonymy is mobile and unfathomable， a huge black hole of language （see figure1 below）.

Figure1

As the figure shows， the female psyche is like a coil spring that produces more imaginative talents； however， at the same time， this kind of flexibility also determines the unpredictability and changeability of the female psychology-- their minds wander during it， sometimes even between two contradictory poles. Similar as what Honey defined neurosis， neurosis is a kind of psychological distress stemming from the conflicts between the fear and the defense， which does not mean that all the women suffer from neurosis， but tends to indicate the female’s mentality-- why women more easily go through affective fluctuation and tries to provide guidance on how to resolve this psychological perplexity during the procedure of their self-development and self-establishment.

Just like Carla， the heroin in the first short story， she was so capricious that her mood swung between the poles of the “mentality spring” during her runaway journey. When Sylvia made arrangement ready for her， Carla became cheerful and excited about the smooth progress of her escape： she “came out clean and shining in her borrowed clothes. Her soft freckled skin was flushed from the shower...... the sweet frizz now flat against her head” （Runaway 26）； however， when it suddenly occurs to her the uncertainty of the future， a string of questions occupied her mind：

But what would she care about？ How would she know that she was alive？ While she was running away from him-- now—Clark （her husband） still kept his place in her life. But when she was finished running away， when she just went on， what would she put in his place）？ What else-- who else-- could ever be so vivid a challenge？ （Runaway 34）

so， she fell into contradictions about whether to escape from her husband that “she had managed to stop crying， but she started to shake” （Runaway 34）.

The same as Juliet， the main character in a serious of short stories， she was so clever that she “was twenty-one years old and already possessor of a B.A. and M.A. in Classics” （Runaway 52）， but the people in her native town had usually taken the conventional standards as the evaluation measures， quick to point out her drawbacks： “her inability to run a sewing machine or tie up a neat parcel， or notice that her slip was showing； what would become of her， was the question” （Runaway 53）. It is the conflict between the universal values and the pursue of female’s personal values that causes Juliet’s uncertainty of her self-identity and the swing of moods like a pendulum clock. With the upgrade of this contradiction， a trivial incident strikes on the rocks of fear and anxiety. When she went to Canada as a substitute teacher on train， she rudely refused a request of “chum around together” asked by an ugly man who sat across from her， totally inconsistent with her image as a senior intellectual and the education she had received. But， why Juliet was so disgusted with this request as to arouse her “neurosis”

At those words， chum around， a cold turbulence rose in Juliet. She understood that he was not trying to pick her up. One of the demoralizing things that sometimes happened was that rather awkward and lonely and unattractive men would make a bald bid for her， implying that she had to be in the same boat as they were. But he wasn’t doing that. He wanted a friend， not a girl friend. He wanted a chum. （Runaway 56）

Actually， her unkind response is not aimed at that poor man， but sort of resistance to the conventional standards that she and other numerous “she” must always be a lady-- “be available， be friendly （especially if you are not popular）” and that they sadly attach their own confidence to the sexual attraction.

ii. An Invisible Hand： Discipline and Anti-discipline

For lack of a solid foundation， there would more easily appear a mental gap and only if the female attach themselves to some entities can they get the flow of their consciousness concentrated so as to gain sense of safety and discover the significance of life in this kind of stability. But it should be realized that the femininity such as sentimentality or unpredictability of mindset should never be regarded as inferior qualities first of all， additionally， that some entities the female attaches to， should not be confined to the male or the domestic field only. However， such prejudice， which is usually called orthodoxy or conventional values， is the result of the discipline centered by phallocentrism， which is like a fluid network， and women are deeply influenced and caught. Such a clever and independent girl as Juliet still could not run away from the discipline： her refusal to that request to “chum around together” is a sort of resistance indeed， but the root of neurosis lies in her self-abasement： Juliet had already recognized that she was not attractive enough and that she also needed the male attention to gain self-confidence even personal value. That is to say， in fact， Juliet has stood on the stance of phallocentrism unconsciously under the great influence of the discipline. As Foucault pointed out， the discipline in modern society had realized automatic operation， depending on its two main characteristics-- “visible” and “unverifiable”， not so violent as torture， but more powerful and influential， mainly manifested in the form of discourse， such as gossip， rumor or even scandal. Extremely disgusted with the discipline imprisonment， Juliet married a fisherman far away from her hometown. Unable to afford the neighbors’ gossip behind their back， her parents felt so ashamed that her father even gave up his job as a teacher. Such resistance， on the basis of the acceptance of the female image trained by the discipline， can never declare a complete victory. That’s why the heroin in Munro’s fictions easily fell into contradiction who run away but finally return to family； for some radical figures who fought to the end， they also regretted the rebellious decision in old days.

Therefore， the neurosis， in Honey’s point of view， is not only the imbalance of the interpersonal relationship， but also the maladjustment of self which leads to the division into three “selves” -- the real self， the idealized self and the actual self. The self-split of the characters in Runaway may not totally accord with Honey’s theory， but at least as what Jenny put it in Their Eyes Were Watching God： she has had her inside and outside dissociated and known how to not mix them together. So， as Coufal believed， it seems that the girls in Munro’s works do not play independently on the stage of their own lives-- they cannot completely control the destiny， rather like a ghost， which foresees their tragic future. Munro once said that there were so many forces blocking women especially young girls from figuring out their life puzzlement. And one of the most important forces is the system of discipline and punishment. However， not only does the female change as unpredictably as the coil spring， but also is as flexible and tenacious. They recognize， resist against， and at the same time reconstruct the system. Life is an abyss full of embarrassment and suffering， and the female bargains with it with strong perseverance， to find the light and truth.

III. Conclusion

Munro has kept on publishing since the late 1960s， and has already created fourteen works， who puts all her heart into literary writings. She provides the readers with her perception and interpretation of life with exquisite languages， so as to make them have a better understanding of life. The plot is plain and simple， but unforgettable with unique charm， as Giller Prize put it： “Runaway brings us haunting stories told with unflinching honesty， in a language precise and informed， yet beautifully simple， whose meanings taunt the mind long after we have finished them.”. Her achievements， on one hand， rely on the ingenious writing skills， on the other hand， also cannot be separated from “the Principle of Iceberg”. Not only does she describe the peaceful life afloat on the water， but also illustrates into the underwater and unveils the intricate social relationships， the psychological fluctuation and the struggle between discipline and resistance.

Similar to the roaring waves beneath the still water， there lurk fear and anxiety of the female under a seemingly peaceful life. Actually， one of the reasons for the tendency of neurosis is the characteristics of the female psychology： the flow of their consciousness is full of unpredictability and changeability， and sometimes may leap between two opposite ends of emotions. But the root lies in the system of discipline and punishment centered by phallocentrism， which causes the contradiction between the real self and the actual self and leads to the imbalance of interpersonal relationship as well as the maladjustment of the self. By running away from the husband and the family， the female tries to resist against this system， so as to escape from the trap； however， the intertexture of the resistance and the compromise destined their destiny： they cannot declare a complete victory. Life itself is full of embarrassment and suffering no matter where you run to， and only if the female understand life as it is， can they comprehend the self and establish the identity.

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