“in the supreme disaster of loneliness and despair”: Misogyny and Routinized Catastrophe in Joseph Conrad’s “Amy Foster”
0
조회
0
다운로드
0
인용
0
참고문헌
키워드
초록
This paper explores the misogynistic attitudes toward woman and marriage revealed in Joseph Conrad’s “Amy Foster.” They are a response, the paper argues, of men who cannot psychologically manage the sea change taking place in Victorian masculinity. With the decline of European imperialism, which had been bulwarked by masculine ideology, the ego of white men fell into crisis, a catastrophe often manifested in Conrad’s works as shipwreck. “Amy Foster” is no exception. Its protagonist Yanko Goorall is a castaway from central Europe whose conventions and customs are still feudal. Unable to accustom himself to the new culture of England, he succumbs to death. In the narrative of “Amy Foster,” though, his death is blamed on his wife, Amy. Indeed, Dr. Kennedy and his listener-narrator’s narrative attempts to recuperate the old ideal of masculinity not only by elevating Yanko’s struggle as that of a hero’s and but also by misogynistically portraying Amy’s role in his failure. The narrative also portrays marriage as a fatal trap for Yanko, as it ushers Yanko permanently into the unadventurous routine of life and disturbs the construction and maintenance of the homosocial world of men. Conrad uses the metaphor of catastrophe in order to express the sense of crisis and loss of masculine ego at the turn of the century.
Abstract
This paper explores the misogynistic attitudes toward woman and marriage revealed in Joseph Conrad’s “Amy Foster.” They are a response, the paper argues, of men who cannot psychologically manage the sea change taking place in Victorian masculinity. With the decline of European imperialism, which had been bulwarked by masculine ideology, the ego of white men fell into crisis, a catastrophe often manifested in Conrad’s works as shipwreck. “Amy Foster” is no exception. Its protagonist Yanko Goorall is a castaway from central Europe whose conventions and customs are still feudal. Unable to accustom himself to the new culture of England, he succumbs to death. In the narrative of “Amy Foster,” though, his death is blamed on his wife, Amy. Indeed, Dr. Kennedy and his listener-narrator’s narrative attempts to recuperate the old ideal of masculinity not only by elevating Yanko’s struggle as that of a hero’s and but also by misogynistically portraying Amy’s role in his failure. The narrative also portrays marriage as a fatal trap for Yanko, as it ushers Yanko permanently into the unadventurous routine of life and disturbs the construction and maintenance of the homosocial world of men. Conrad uses the metaphor of catastrophe in order to express the sense of crisis and loss of masculine ego at the turn of the century.
참고문헌 (23)
- Baldwin, Debra R., "The New Cambridge Companion to Joseph Conrad", pp.132~146 (2015), Cambridge UP
- Conrad. Joseph, "Typhoon and Other Stores", pp.147~176 (1986), Oxford UP
- Conrad. Joseph, "Heart of Darkness" (2006), Norton
- Conrad. Joseph, "The Mirror of the Sea" (2011), Floating Press
- D’Elia, Gaetano, "Yanko, the Man Who Came from the Sea: A Note on Conrad’s ‘Amy Foster", Conradiana, 11(2), pp.165~176 (1979)[DOI]
- GoGwilt, Christopher, "A Historical Guide to Joseph Conrad", pp.137~161 (2010), Oxford UP
- Hayes, Peter, "Conrad, Male Tyranny, and the Idealization of Women", ARIEL : A Review of International English Literature, 28(3), pp.97~117 (1997)
- Hooper, Myrtle, "Oh, I Hope He Won’t Talk : Narrative and Silence in ‘Amy Foster’", The Conradian, 21(2), pp.51~64 (1996)[DOI]
- Jayasena, Nalin, "Contested Masculinities: Crises in Colonial Male Identity from Joseph Conrad to Satyajit Ray" (2008), Routledge
- Jones, Susan, "Conrad and Women" (1999), Clarendon
- Kao, Pei-Wen Clio, "From Incapable ‘Angel in the House’ to Invincible ‘New Woman’ in Marlovian Narratives: Representing Womanhood in Heart of Darkness and Chance", Conrad Studies, 9, pp.116~129 (2015)
- Kramer, Jürgen, "What the Country Doctor ‘did not see’: The Limits of the Imagination in Amy Foster", The Conradian, 28(2), pp.1~11 (2003)
- MacDonald, Tara, "The New Man, Masculinity and Marriage in the Victorian Novel" (2015), Routledge
- Mulry, David, "‘Lost in the Haze’ : Joseph Conrad, the Ruined Maid, and the Male Gaze", South Central Review, 31(1), pp.74~98 (2014)
- Roberts, Andrew M., "Conrad and Masculinity", pp.1~11 (2000), St. Martin’s
- Ruppel, Richard, "Homosexuality in the Life and Work of Joseph Conrad: Love Between the Lines" (2008), Routledge
- Ruppel, Richard, "Yanko Goorall in the Heart of Darkness: ‘Amy Foster’ as Colonialist Text", Conradiana, 28(2), pp.126~132 (1996)
- Said, Edward W, "Joseph Conrad", pp.29~52 (1986), Chelsea
- Sedgwick, Eve K., "Between Men : English Literature and Male Homosocial Desire" (1985), Columbia UP
- Shaffer, Brian W., "Swept from the Sea: Trauma and Otherness in Conrad’s ‘Amy Foster’", Conradiana, 32(3), pp.163~176 (2000)[DOI]
- Shires, Linda M., "The Victorian Novel and Masculinity", pp.189~213 (2015), Palgrave Macmillan
- Watson, Wallace S., "Misogyny and Homoerotic Hints Feminized and Romanticized: Conrad’s ‘Amy Foster’ and Kidron’s ‘Swept from the Sea’", Literature, 2001, pp.29(3), 179~195
- Whittaker, Eve M., "Amy Foster and the Blindfold Woman", Conradiana, 39(3), pp.249~272 (2007)