Abstract:

Sandra Cisneros is one of the most successful contemporary American writers, though she is criticized and questioned by the academia. Some scholars believe her works are not critical. This is not true. Cisneros’ criticisms of patriarchy, racial and class discriminations are not weaker than other Chicana feminists. She even openly declares that she is a Chicana feminist. This paper argues Cisneros’ subversive reinterpretation of the “tres madres” archetypes proves her criticalness by taking The House on Mango Street, “Never Marry a Mexican” and “Woman Hollering Creek” as the examples. In The House on Mango Street, she depicts the living condition of the women on Mango Street who live under the shadow of Guadalupe and proposes the strategy of writing for these voiceless women. In “Never Marry a Mexican”, Cisneros not only subverts the obedient and tolerant image of Guadalupe and reinterprets her as the “sex goddess,” but also subverts the “chingada” image of Malinche. Under her reinterpretation, woman is not the “chingada” any more, but the “chingón”. In “Woman Hollering Creek”, Cisneros reinterprets the traditional La Lloronaarchetype. Woman does not weep like “La Llorona” any more, but begins giggling. Through the reinterpretations of these archetypes, Cisneros not only criticizes the sexual, racial and class discriminations of Chicano and Anglo mainstream cultures against Mexican-American women, but also explores the ways of resistance against these discriminations.

Keywords: Sandra Cisneros; tres madres archetypes; reinterpretation; criticalness; Chicana

摘要：

桑德拉•西斯内罗斯是当代美国最成功的墨西哥裔作家之一,但是学界也不乏对她的批评和质疑。有些学者认为她的作品缺乏批判性。但事实并非如此,西斯内罗斯对父权制、种族及阶级歧视的批判并不弱于其他奇卡纳女性主义作家,她旗帜鲜明地宣称自己是“奇卡纳 ^①(①英语为Chicana,是Chicano的阴性形式,Chicano意为有政治意识的墨西哥裔美国人,有时也与墨西哥裔美国人通用,因此Chicana特指有政治意识的墨西哥裔美国女性,有时也与墨西哥裔美国女性通用。后文中出现的奇卡诺文化一词指墨西哥人移民美国后,将墨西哥文化带入美国,称为奇卡诺文化。)女性主义者”。本文以《芒果街上的小屋》《不要跟墨西哥人结婚》及《喊女溪》三篇小说为例,论证西斯内罗斯对“三位母亲”原型形象的颠覆性阐释即是她批判性的有力证明。在《芒果街上的小屋》中,她描绘了生活在圣母瓜达卢佩阴影之下芒果街上女人们的生存状态,并且提出通过写作帮她们发声的策略。而在小说《不要跟墨西哥人结婚》中,西斯内罗斯不仅颠覆了圣母驯顺隐忍的原型形象,将其阐释为“性女神”,还颠覆了马林奇“被侵犯者”的他者形象,女性不再是“被侵犯者”,而成为“侵犯者”。在小说《喊女溪》中,西斯内罗斯对传统的“哭泣的女人”原型进行了重新阐释,女性不再像“哭泣的女人”一样柔弱地哭泣,而是发出笑声。本文认为,通过重新阐释这些女性原型形象,西斯内罗斯批判了奇卡诺文化及美国主流文化对墨西哥裔女性的性别、种族、阶级歧视,同时也探索了对抗这些歧视的方式。

关键词: 桑德拉•西斯内罗斯, “三位母亲”原型形象, 重新阐释, 批判性, 奇卡纳