The Ethical Limit of Motherlove: Motherhood in Men and Angels

doi:10.12002/j.bisu.120

Abstract

Abstract: “Motherlove” has long been bound to motherhood as its most important parameter and becomes an important ethical criterion for mothers’ existence. However, contemporary American writer Mary Gordon, questioning such a criterion, demonstrates the ethical limit of motherlove and its constructiveness most truthfully in her novel Men and Angels, which gives voice to mothers’ various forms of existence. This paper discusses the ethical limit of motherlove from the perspective of the ontological existence of motherlove which emphasizes that mothers are not just the givers of love but also the subjects of love who are able to love themselves at the very beginning; the dislocation of motherlove which means that motherlove may be oriented to other children instead of their own ones—this can be a huge ethical challenge for traditional concept of motherlove; and the heterogeneity of motherlove which accepts negative feelings like “hatred” as part of motherlove so that the ethical limit of motherlove may be negotiated and the pressure mothers suffer may be relieved. Understanding these three aspects will help readers see the possibility for mothers to thrive in the process of becoming the subjects of love and eventually turn the ethically limited motherlove into the realm of infinite motherlove.

Keywords: Men and Angels; motherlove; ethical limit; motherhood; contemporary American novels; Mary Gordon

摘要： “母爱”长期以来被当作母性的重要参数与母亲身份捆绑在一起，成为母亲赖以存在的伦理向度。然而当代美国小说家玛丽• 戈登在《男人与天使》中对该伦理向度进行了置疑，展示了母爱的伦理限度及建构性，为母亲的多样性存在发出了独特的声音。本文从母爱的本体性、错位性和异质性三个角度来讨论小说中体现的母爱的伦理限度，即：母爱并非单向的维度，成为爱的主体是打破传统的伦理限度，使母爱最终走向无限的重要途径；母亲的爱很可能指向的是其他孩子，这是理解母爱需要突破的一个伦理维度；母爱是各种矛盾情感的统一体，接纳包括“恨”在内的消极情感将有助于通过对母爱的伦理限度的认可，消解母亲在各种力量中遭受的挤压，从而获得更为繁茂的生命力。

关键词: 《男人与天使》, 母爱, 伦理限度, 母性, 美国当代小说, 玛丽&bull, 戈登

CLC Number:

I106.4

LI Fang. The Ethical Limit of Motherlove: Motherhood in Men and Angels[J]. Journal of Beijing International Studies University, 2017, 39(5): 76-86.

李　芳. 母爱的伦理限度——《男人与天使》中的母性观[J]. 北京第二外国语学院学报, 2017, 39(5): 76-86.

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