Title：Revisiting the Narrative Strategies and Ethics in M. Butterfly
题目：戏剧《蝴蝶君》中的叙事策略与话语伦理
Abstract：M. Butterfly (1988) by Chinese American playwright Henry David Hwang is inspired by a 1986 diplomatic incident of a years-long affair, beginning in the mid-1960s, between a French Embassy employee, Bernard Boursicot, and a Peking opera singer, Peipu Shi, and is represented by borrowing the frame from Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly. Hwang’s explicit intention to subvert the Orientalist stereotypical images of Chinese (Asian) Americans imposed by the phallocentric discourse hegemony is highlighted by such dramatic strategies as crossdressing, twist and reversal, and at the same time, backfired for its reinforcing the stereotypes and even further demonizing the Chinese (Asian) American images. The fact that the commercial success of the play became Hwang’s ticket into the Asian-American exclusive Broadway has further aggravated the negative criticism.
A non-docudrama, M. Butterfly maximizes aspects in the real diplomatic incident to complicate the dramatic creation in a deconstructive way against the orientalist narration diffused in the American mainstream mentality, and more strongly, manifests the silenced point of view and experience in the relationship, whether it is of Cho-Cho-San, of Peipu Shi or of Song. Therefore, the strong voice of the unreliable narrator Gallimard orients himself as a trusting, idealistic, misinformed and generous dupe in the overt plot, while the covert narrative progression, composed of ambiguous dramatic dialogues scattered in the play, transforms the victim to the real controller, and further reveals the dilemma of expressing Chinese (Asian) minority identity within systems of Eurocentric discourse. The dual narrative dynamics of the play supplement each other to reflect on and metaphorize the discursive construction of Western hegemony of the typical Cold War style.
摘要：华裔美国作家黄哲伦将1986年引起一片哗然的中法外交事件嵌入歌剧《蝴蝶夫人》东方主义叙事框架中，以明确的解构东方主义刻板形象为目的，创作了戏剧《蝴蝶君》（1988）。该剧以角色异装和置换形成戏剧反转，对西方中心主义文化殖民话语架构中互为表里的种族与性别双重政治话语秩序形成了强烈的戏剧戏谑。然而，评论界诟病剧中华人宋丽玲的性别与政治身份的曝光，使华人形象再度污名化的质疑声甚嚣尘上。黄哲伦因《蝴蝶君》而成为百老汇的首位亚裔美国剧作家，这种“特殊待遇”也使对其迎合和附庸于西方主流文化话语体系的批评声不绝于耳。作为一部非纪实性的戏剧作品，《蝴蝶君》在其戏仿“蝴蝶夫人”话语范式的显性情节之下，以其强势叙事者的不可靠叙事和散落于剧中模棱两可或含混不清的戏剧对话，并行推进着一股隐藏的叙事暗流，使显性情节中的情感受骗者成为隐性进程中的话语操控者。仅从显性情节层面将《蝴蝶君》解读为对东方主义二元话语体系中种族与性别简单倒置，解读无疑是有缺憾的。通过重读和细读文本发现，隐性进程深层揭示了西方话语体系桎梏下华人身份自我言说的困境。由解构东方主义刻板形象的显性情节和隐喻华人（亚裔）群体言说困境的隐性进程构成的双重叙事动力相辅相成，影射了冷战思维模式下的美国政治话语模态。
Bio：Xin Zhang is Professor of English and Dean of Faculty of English Language and Culture, Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. She serves as the Vice President of China English Language Education Association (CELEA), the Vice-Chairman of the Division of Drama Studies, Chinese Association for the Comparative Study of Language and Culture, and Chairman of the Provincial Supervisory Committee for Undergraduate Programs in English of Guangdong Province. Her research interests span drama studies, ethical literary criticism, American studies and foreign language education.
简介：张欣，广东外语外贸大学英语语言文化学院教授、院长、博士生导师、博士后合作导师、校学术委员会委员、校欧美同学会（留学人员联谊会）副会长、Interdisciplinary Studies of Literature (A&HCI)编委、《广东外语外贸大学学报》编委。兼任中国英汉语比较研究会英语教学研究分会副会长、（中国）中外语言文化比较学会戏剧研究专业委员会副会长、中国高校外语学科发展联盟外国文学跨学科研究委员会专家委员、广东省本科高校外语类专业教学指导委员会副主任委员、英语专业分委员会主任委员、广东省外国文学学会常务理事等。“双万计划”国家级一流英语专业建设点负责人。广东省《英美文学》教学团队及一流课程负责人。主要研究领域为西方戏剧和叙事学，承担并完成相关领域国家级和省部级项目多项,多篇论文刊于A&HCI和CSSCI索引期刊，部分被人大复印资料全文转载。