In the Name of "Uncertainty": James Baldwin's Naming of

• Main Authors: Li, Chang-chun, 李長春
• Other Authors: Shou-cheng Lai
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 1996
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/09451419299501708653

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 英語學系 === 84 === As the phrase "love that dare not speak its name" suggests, homosexualityis often disguised in literature. For a pre- Stonewall gay writer like JamesBaldwin, it is even more difficult to name it. However, in his first threenovels, he adopts different strategies to manifest homosexuality, and thusconstructs a homosexual discourse at his time. Chapter I of this thesis willfocus on his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain. Baldwin dexterouslyinfuses homosexual desire into the process of a young black's search for afather image and religious salvation, and thus develops a hidden homosexualdiscourse. Nonetheless, because the description of homosexuality is built ona fantasy, it lacks the power to reflect a true homosexual world after all.Chapter II will discuss his second novel, Giovanni's Room. Baldwin puts itssetting in Parisian gay underworld. Nonetheless, Baldwin's hesitance in naminghomosexuality makes him shift between positively endowing it with a healingpower and negatively accusing it of its corruptive influence. Homosexualityis still not properly named. As Chapter III demonstrates, it is in his thirdnovel, Another Country, that Baldwin displays a meaningful way to name homo-sexuality. By creating bohemian gay characters who can establish a uniqueattitude towards life out of a chaotic and uncertain conditon, Baldwin giveshomosexuality a proper name in the name of uncertainty.