Rabbit,Run and Its America: A Cultural Materialist Perspective

• Main Authors: Tu, Chao-Mei, 杜昭玫
• Other Authors: Kenny Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 1998
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/04770681461375890212

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 外國語文學系研究所 === 86 === Here in the thesis, the approach taken is chiefly cultural materialism. It will be, therefore, an analysis involving historical context, theoretical method, political commitment, and close reading. The first section includes an elaboration on the relationship between ideology and individual agent. In the light of Louis Althusser's concept of Ideology, no possibility of individual escape from the ideological control can be conceived. An Althusserean revolution, according to other critics, won't take place in any real sense. On the other hand, with Raymond Williams's and Gramsci's theory in mind, both the concepts of "structures of feeling" and "hegemony" allow the space for revolution, or alternative survival. The second section is primarily an attempt to connect the content of the text to contemporary American society, with Althusser's "ideological apparatuses" as the analytical strategy. Rabbit feels the ubiquitous presence of a "trap" in Rabbit, Run. His instinctive sense of the social pressure, the functioning of "ideological apparatuses," precipitates his rebellion. Within the text, the social fabrics that construct the net includes economy, religion, and family, and popular culture. Consequently, I will analyze these elements both within the text and contemporary American society, find out the correspondence, and situate the text in its historical circumstances. The third section concerns the role of women both in the text and in the fifties. Despite Rabbit's degrading treatment and depiction of women in the text, those female characters still display their own potential to resist. Ruth, Rabbit's mistress, is to some degree in possession of the ability to criticize, and Janice, Rabbit's wife, is capable of enjoying her own life when Rabbit runs away. Besides, her alcoholism represents her dissatisfaction with the existent situation. Transforming to the horizon.