引物為鑑：物件，新女性，與莎拉．葛蘭的《天生一對》

Abstract

《天生一對》為莎拉．葛蘭最著名的新女性小說，過去研究已經在性病、美學等議題多有建樹。本論文將另闢蹊徑，援引物質文化研究，從文本關於瓷器與束腰的細節，重新閱讀「新女性」意象所牽涉的帝國與性別議題。本文認為英國新女性的形象，建立於刻意貶低他國以及抑止性別流動的基礎上。 首章爬梳過去對於葛蘭以及《天生一對》的相關研究，引進新女性研究的物質文化研究轉向。而強調文本物品的物質性，將成為論文閱讀文本瓷器與束腰所隱藏的另類物質史的方法學。而對照小說同時期的瓷器史與束腰史，本文希冀能補充過去相關研究中，對於物品細節較少著墨之處。 第二章以文本中的瓷器開始閱讀，並與相關的帝國閱讀對話。在小說人物的日常飲食活動中，葛蘭勾勒新女性健康的飲食習慣：女性願意在男性面前展示自我健康的食慾，擺脫當時病態的纖細美，而瓷器的重要性反而在這樣的閱讀角度中逐漸被忽略。而以「強」轉喻閱讀方式，我討論中國如何以瓷器的形象存在於文本，進而討論當時十九世紀對於中國瓷器熱愛的文化現象。我將並置被扭曲的中國意象於其他被醜化的異國意象，也證明新女性決心擁護純正的英國形象時，有意識地隔離有可能危害英國本土的他國。 第三章則以女性服裝時尚所用的束腹開始閱讀，並跟過去相關的性別研究對話。葛蘭推動女性健康的體態，避免對於女性因為束腹所產生病態美。新女性因而嘗試改革服裝，穿著異國服飾，甚至穿著男裝。然而在解放女性身段的同時，葛蘭認為女性應堅持女性特質。小說中因女性扮裝產生的類男男情誼的插曲，最後也以悲劇收場。新女性遵循婚姻制度，雖重複了維多利亞小說的傳統，卻也符合葛蘭保守的性別觀。 末章最後總結，從物品本身的物質史重新閱讀小說，更能讀出新女性以英國為尊，重視家庭與婚姻制度的信念。葛蘭在確立新女性的形象中，以其對大英帝國的擁護，醜化並隔離其他異國；並且在推行健康女性的形象中，不忘提醒她對女性氣質的堅持，而屏除性別流動的可能。這樣的做法反讓新女性的形象過於單一，反而侷限了女性自主的可能性，值得讀者引以為鑑。

_The Heavenly Twins_ is New Woman writer Sarah Grand’s bestseller. Previous studies have contributed to the issues of men’s venereal diseases and (literary) aesthetics. Departing from the previous studies, this thesis aims at investigating chinaware and female corsets – by incorporating the recent material culture studies – to reread the issues of empire and gender within the image of the New Woman. It argues that the concept of the New Woman is established on the basis of demeaning the foreign others and of limiting the fluidity of gender. The first chapter surveys the relevant studies on Grand and on _The Heavenly Twins_ to map the recent paradigm shift of material culture studies in the New Woman studies. In order to emphasize the materiality of objects, this thesis tries to unveil the material histories of chinaware and of female corsetry. It endeavors to lead the scholarly attention to the details of how the New Woman interacts with her things. The second chapter begins with household china to initiate a dialogue with the previous reading of the empire. Grand puts stress on women’s healthy appetites by demonstrating how the New Woman willingly craves food, and dares to abandon the social norm of slender beauty in her novel. The emphasis on female appetites then veils the significance of Chinese porcelains. The chapter will resituate the importance of chinaware, by conducting a strong metonymic reading, back to the “chinamania” in the nineteenth century to demonstrate how China exists as a plaything in the text. The third chapter turns to probe the female corsets to re-examine the previous readings of gender issues. Grand promotes healthy female bodies by abandoning the female tight-lacing. Changing their traditional attires, New Women wear exotic garments and even wear male clothes. Yet, in liberating women from the restriction of female corsets, Grand still insists on traditional femininity. What verifies Grand’s conservatism on gender issues depends on the tragic end in the interlude of a pseudo-homosexual plot as well as New Women’s final return to matrimonial virtues. The conclusion maintains that reading the image of the New Woman from the perspective of things best assists us to know how such woman – by emphasizing the familial and matrimonial virtues – identifies herself as a superior British woman. To conjure up the image of the New Woman, Grand has to distort and alienate the images of foreign others to outshine the image of the British Empire. To promote the healthier image of British women, she precludes the fluidity of gender by stressing the traditional femininity. Such a narrow image of the New Woman actually limits women’s autonomy and thus becomes a lesson for contemporary readers.