本論文嘗試分析非裔女性作家佐拉．尼爾．賀絲登在其小說《他們的眼睛正望著上帝》非裔女性之語言、身體和慾望。 本論文以小說主人翁詹妮自我實現之旅程為其樞紐, 探討詹妮如何打破沉默重新取得發言位置, 重新定義非裔女性之自我價值,進而重劃以男性為中心之社會對非裔女性所設下之藩籬與疆界。 筆者擬於本文第一章提出，賀斯登如何以看似衝突,實則互為表裡之敘事美學呈現非裔女性因其種族和性別所面臨之雙重邊緣化之困境。 亦即, 賀斯登一方面呈現詹妮如何打破沉默成為言說的主體 (speaking subject) ，另一方面卻又突顯以男性為主導之黑人社群如何藉由消弭女性之聲音來控制女性進而壓抑女性欲建立其主體性之慾望。 詹妮的沉默，事實上，正導因於黑人社群對非裔女性聲音的充耳不聞。 本文之第二章，筆者進一步探討詹妮自我實現之旅程。詹妮的旅程，不僅僅是空間上之遷徙，更是心靈上的開發與成長。 詹妮的旅程，不但代表了詹妮突破社會加諸其身之束縛與限制的勇氣，更體現了詹妮急欲追求愛與親密關係之深層的慾望。更重要的是，詹妮的旅程並非變相的逃避，而是促使詹妮將她在自我發現之旅途上所見所聞帶回黑人社群，進而豐富黑人社群之生命與拓展其視野。本文之第三章將側重分析非裔女性之身體。長久以來，非裔女性之身體，經常淪為白人控制非裔女性之主體性的工具或是供非裔男性展現其男子氣概之場域。 然而，賀絲登藉由改寫女性身體為其慾望之主體來重塑非裔女性之主體性及重新定義其自我價值。非裔女性之身體，不僅僅是白(黑)人男性權力和慾望展現之場域；更是非裔女性用語言無法訴盡之慾望表徵。

The thesis aims to read Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God to discuss how and why the white male dominant society marginalizes and subordinates black women by means of silencing their voices, restricting their freedom to explore themselves and the world around them, and suppressing their recognition of their sexual desires and bodily needs. The black woman, or in a sense, the mule of the world, could not always do and act according to her own desire. Instead, they are required to keep silence whenever a community’s voice (usually the male one) is generated and furthermore to play the secondary role as a good wife whose sole purpose in life is merely to meet her husbands’ demands. On the one hand, black female body, which has always been brutally beaten, closely examined, and sexually exploited in the hands of white/black men, is the very site of white supremacy and male dominance. On the one hand, it also serves as an outlet for black men to vent the humiliation, anger and shame that they have suffered in the predominantly white America. The black woman, therefore, is doubly marginalized in terms of both her race and sex.
In the first chapter of this thesis, I argue that Janie’s disturbing silence is the inevitable result of her failure to find an ideal listener. In a male-centered society, not only is Janie denied a voice to articulate her desire, but she also fails to find an empathetic listener. Pheoby’s “hungry listening” unquestionably satisfies Janie’s deep longing for self-revelation. Nonetheless, such a hungry audience is not always available even when a black woman chooses to voice her desire. Black female voice, in this respect, badly needs an ideal listener who is willing to keep his/her ears as well as heart open. The second chapter, moreover, engages with the major issues about why and how the heroine sets off on a quest for love and respect, freedom and possibilities. Janie, on the one hand, has to go to the far horizon not so much in time and space as in soul and spirit. That is, Janie must embark on a female quest to redefine herself aside from male definitions. On the other hand, Janie also brings back to the black community what she has experienced and learned in her
self-fulfillment journey and thus enriches her community with her hard-won knowledge and discovery. Janie’s journey from self-doubt to self-fulfillment, from silence to speech, I would like to suggest, will be continued by anyone who sincerely responds to her life story. The third chapter is concerned with the issues of black female body. In this chapter, I argue that black female body has always been the object of oppression and the target of male dominance and white supremacy. Nevertheless, if black female body could be the site on which the patriarchal law is inscribed, it could also be an agent to speak for what remains unspeakable; more crucially, it could also provide the female subject access to experience that which is both pleasured and pleasuring.

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………1

Chapter One
“The Oldest Human Longing”: Female Voice and Self-Revelation…………….10

Chapter Two
“Tuh de Horizon and Back”: Female Quest and Self-Fulfillment……………...38

Chapter Three
“The Skin Felt Powerful and Human”: Body, Sexual Violence, and Desire……69

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………94

Works Cited………………………………………………………………………......97

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