哈尔滨工业大学硕士学位论文Harbin Institute of Technology M.A.Thesis
Abstract
Ian McEwan is known as the“National Writer”of Bratain.His masterpiece Amsterdam wins the1998Booker Prize.In the novel,the author expresses strong concern about the power relations of individuals and has profoundly pondered the relationship between individuals,power,and the relationship between rationality and irrationality.From the perspective of Foucault’s philosophy of power,this thesis attempts to explore Ian McEwen’s portrayal of universal values and operational rules of the British and even European societies from the perspective of society. Through the interaction and struggle between rationality and irrationality with power relations as the medium,it reveals the inner connection between social reality and the fate of characters,examines the discipline and punishment mechanisms of rational power,and the means to produce and tame the body.It interprets the infiltration of normalized power operation on daily life and the control of the body, and reproduces the author’s creative ideas and literary sensations.
The first chapter starts with the rationality’s oppression and restraint of irrationality,and analyzes the power technology and its consequences imposed by rational discourse on irrational discourse.The monitoring and caregiving of George’s madness Molly symbolizes that the subject of power has the initiative to control the recipient.This control not only exerts a force on the direct receptor but also has a deterrent effect on other objects.Clive’s fear of“Molly’s death" constitutes his fundamental motivation for“euthanasia.”In addition,the detention of rapists by the police station as a national violence agency essentially embodies the power mechanism rationalizing the role of normalization.
The second chapter depicts the resistance and countermeasures that irrationality pushes upon the rationality,in which the former has achieved its own living space in the marginal status.Molly,who is insane,has imperceptibly influenced and even induced several old lovers’mental processes,revealing that the speechless body can still change the mental state and state of the sensible person.The more the British society is advocating sexual repression,the more powerful the sexual power technology is.The merry Molly obsessed with extramarital affairs indulge sexual
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哈尔滨工业大学硕士学位论文Harbin Institute of Technology M.A.Thesis
desire,which reflects the women’s resistance to the standardization of power.At the same time,power is productive,and the power technology creates new individuals at the same time as oppressing the recipient.
The third chapter clarifies the result of the struggle between rationality and irrationality,and analyzes that superficial“victory”acquired by rationality whose attempt to establishng a society that is completely governed by rationality,norms, and order does not conform to the trend of the times.In order to compete for higher positions,Frank,the newspaper of the newspaper The Judges,does not hesitate to leak out on the day before the Garmony’s photos are about to be reported.He replaces Vernon’s editor position of the newspaper.In a social mechanism that encourages reporting and disclosure,Frank sees the ruler as a“hero.”Rationality attempts to construct a society that is completely governed by order and the same, through intricate and well-designed power technologies,but this vision is clearly out of line with historical trends.
The research in this paper shows that the ruler’s attempt to use rational power rules to train and transform individuals into tame physical forms is inconsistent with the historical development trend of multi-civilization and will only be a shameless drama directed by oneself.Ratioality must not exist independently by eliminating irrationality.As Foucault said,the establishment of rational dominance is dependent on the oppressive and brutal practice of“the other,”gaining the admiration of people through irrational forms such as killing madness,and therefore does not possess legitimacy.Through Amsterdam McEwan criticizes the unreliability of the normalized power of rationality and the unilateral existence of rational and normative reality in the ideological field of British society,and exposes the dirty political and moral status underneath its rationality.
Keywords:Ian McEwan;Amsterdam;Foucault;Power；Irrationality;Rationality
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哈尔滨工业大学硕士学位论文Harbin Institute of Technology M.A.Thesis
Contents
摘要................................................................................................................................................................I Abstract.......................................................................................................................................................III Introduction (1)
I.Discipline and Punishment of Rationality (10)
A.Supervision of Power (10)
1.George’s Guardianship of Mad Molly (11)
2.Vernon’s Restrictions upon Desire in the Judge Press (17)
B.Punishment of Power (21)
1.Media’s Exposure of Garmony’s Extramarital Affair (22)
2.The Police Office’s Imprisonment of the Rapist (26)
II.Resistance and Counteraction of Irrationality (31)
A.Resistance of Irrationality (31)
1.“Revived”Molly and Her Former Lovers (31)
2.Clive’s Falling to A Murderer (33)
B.Counteractin of Irrationality (38)
1.Clive’s Preference of Art over Responsibility (39)
2.Vernon’s Obsession of Desire above Morality (41)
III.“Shameful Victory”of Rationality (44)
A.Docile Body Trained in Social Prison (44)
1.Frank as New Chief Editor of the Judge (45)
2.Ross as the Model of Women (47)
B.Realizing Order and Normalization (51)
1.Molly’s Role as Scapegoat (51)
2.George as Designer of the Scheme (55)
Conclusion (59)
Works Cited (60)
Paper Published during Study (68)
哈尔滨工业大学学位论文原创性声明和使用权限 (69)
Acknowledgements (70)
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