洛麗塔:從規訓權利中看多洛蕾絲是如何被他者化的

BECOMING LOLITA: THE OTHERING OF DOLORES UNDER DISCIPLINE

Abstract::As the heroine of the story， Lolita's tragic fate attracts people. However， Lolita is only a synonym created by Humbert for those young girls aged from 9-12 years old. Based on Foucault’s theory of discipline power， this paper attempts to re-examine the role played by Lolita and her passiveness， and to analyze the otherness of Dolores， seeing how a normal girl being transited to an imaginary and silent one under the power of discipline by a male adult， Humbert.

摘 要：《洛麗塔》小說中女主角的悲劇命運一直牽動著人們的心。而實際上，洛麗塔只是男主角亨伯特心中9-12歲女孩的代名詞。基于福柯的權力話語理論，本文將重新審視洛麗塔一角，通過分析多洛蕾絲的被動地位以及她的被他者化來看一個普通女孩是如何在男性規訓權利下被轉換，從而成為被他人定義的沉默的弱勢角色。

Key Words: Lolita; Other; discipline; Foucault; transformation

關鍵詞：洛麗塔；他者化；規訓權利；福柯；轉換

[中圖分類號]：I106 [文獻標識碼]：A

[文章編號]：1002-2139(2012)-05-0021-01

Can you image a middle-aged male adult is obsessed with the little nymphets-girls aged between 9 to12? Vladimir Nabokov's novel， an alleged memoir or \"confession\" Lolita just gives you a story of this kind of infatuation. Lolita is a synonym created by Humbert for those young girls aged from 9-12 years old. The famous French philosopher Michel Foucault mentions \"discipline power\" in his famous book Discipline and Punish. In his theory， the dominant side uses a strict series of principles to control the vulnerable side. How does the normal girl Dolores unfortunately be trapped and changed by Humbert， and finally labeled as the Other—Lolita? It is Humbert， the dominant role， who changes her life， imprisons her， and creates the otherness of Dolores， making her being the imagined Lolita.

As a schoolgirl， Dolores is a regular twelve-year old girl. She plays little tricks on her friends， giggles when Humbert plays with her and her doll， and sometimes she is mad with her mother for she does not want to go to bed so early. It is this \"mixture...of tender dreamy childishness and a kind of eerie vulgarity\" that makes Humbert fall in love desperately with her (Nabokov 47). Apparently， the affection Humbert has for Dolores is definitely not \"love\"， for he develops a complex for young girls in his later years after his first love Annabel died. And Lolita， whose real name is actually Dolores Haze is an incarnation of Annabel for Humbert admits that

\"I am convinced， however， that in a certain magic and fateful was Lolita began with Annabel\" and \"that little girl...hunted me ever since-until...I broke her spell by incarnating her in another.\"(Nabokov 15)

However， to satisfy his desire of controlling Lolita， Humbert disciplines Dolores step by step， turning her into his imaged Lolita.

After Dolores’s mother die， Humbert takes Lolita out of her summer camp， and begins their own journey around America. During their journey， Humbert began to conduct a series of severe rules， and creates a prison for his own Lolita. Foucault thinks that discipline must come about through careful observation， and molding of the bodies into the correct form through this observation. This requires a particular form of institution—Prison.(Foucault 220) The original idea is from Jeremy Bentham. Bentham described the Panopticon as \"a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind， in a quantity hitherto without example\"(Bentham 29-95). The prison always brings harm and regulation to prisoners， and transforms them. Dolores is not the exception.

First， Humbert locks Dolores， separating her from the outside world in order to better observe， enslave and control her. \"The exercise of discipline presupposes a mechanism that coerces by means of observation; an apparatus in which the techniques that make it possible to see induce effects of power， and in which， conversely， the means of coercion make those on whom they are applied clearly visible.\"(Foucault， Discipline 194) Humbert tells Dolores that her mother has died， and forbids her from communicating with others. The helpless girl is forced to choose living with her step-father， becoming the target to which Humbert could implement his power. Humbert chooses the vehicle—the car as the only way of their journey. Car， motel and motor coach tour is a more safe and secluded way to watch over and control Lolita. Motels help Humbert cover the secret relationship between Lolita and form a movable closed prison where he could personally inspect his little daughter， and gradually makes otherness of Dolores through detailed disciplines.

In order to let Dolores become the well-behaved Lolita， Humbert uses every means to educate her and influence her life， especially using discourse power. \"If I were you， my dear， I would not talk to strangers.\"(Nabokov 128) He limits her interaction with others. He repeatedly tells Dolores that he is her father， the only one who she could rely on， representing the absolute authority. Under the control and observation， Dolores is tamed and silent. She accepts and submits to this kind of relationship of incest. After their first period of motor trip， humbert chooses a girl’s school as another place to watch over Dolores. \"I immediately foresaw the pleasure I would have in distinguishing from my study-bedroom， by means of powerful binoculars， the statistically inevitable percentage of nymphets among the other girl-children playing around Dolly during recess.\"(Nabokov 169). Obviously， telescope is a best way to see the every movement of others. He becomes the total dictator. Dolores is obedient. In the other people’s eye， she is his little daughter. But to him， she is the cute Lolita， his sweetie lover. Hunbert converts Dolores into his imaginary one—Lolita， fulfilling his lust.

However， the domestication and transformation of Dolores to Lolita brings a lot of harm to this little girl. Dolores changes into a lonely， warping and cranky girl. Humbert will never care about this because it is just what Lolita should be like—only living under his observation without being interrupted by others. During process of taming， Humbert uses another way of disciplining—normalizing judgment. \"At the heart of all disciplinary systems functions a small penal mechanism. It enjoys a kind of judicial privilege with its own laws， its specific offences， its particular forms of judgment.\"(Foucault， Discipline 201) Of course， in Humbert’s way of regulation， punishment is unavoidable， which is good for a more powerful control over his Lolita. When Dolores’ piano teacher tells Humbert that Dolores has been absent from classes for more than two weeks， Humbert is infuriate， shouting \"Dolores， this must stop right away. I am ready to yank you out of Beardsley and lock you up you know where， but this must stop.\"(Nabokov 197) When he begins to feel that Lolita is trying to escape from his world， he chooses motor trip again. Obviously， he takes Dolores as his own property. Sometimes， when having quarrels， Humbert even stressed his dominant position by beating Dolores. Kinds of punishment strengthen Humbert’s power to a large extent.

Lolita is a tragedy. She is being the puppet without voice， communication or thoughts. To create a Humbertland where he could be alone in his \"pubescent park\" with nymphets \"around me forever， never grow up\"(Nabokov 21)， Humbert builds up an exclusive fairytale land of his own imagination with disciplines while fixing Dolores Haze as his immortal nymphet Lolita. In fact， Humbert declares her identity as the Other， she shares no common with him， the human being， she is an absolute Object which could continue to \"being\" only if her creator invested meaning and purpose on her.

To quote Richard Bullock， \"Lolita is...not only a girl， a fantasy， and a book， it is the constitutive element of all three: a word\"(Bullock 200). She is the word that both begins and ends Humbert's narration， the word that is controlled by disciplines， and the word that will always be defined by others than itself. As Humbert tells us: \"My American sweet immortal dead love; for she is dead and immortal if you are reading this\"(Nabokov 297).

Works Cited

Works in English

[1]、Bentham， Jeremy. The Panopticon Writings. London: Verso， 1995. 29-95.

[2]、Bullock， Richard. \"Humbert the Character， Humbert the Writer.\" Philological Quarterly. Vol. 63， No. 2 (1984). 187-204.

[3]、Vladimir， Nabokov. Lolita. Beijing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2009.

Works in Chinese

[1]、Foucault， Michel. Guixun yu Chengfa (規訓與懲罰Discipline and Punish). 北京： 三聯書店， 1999.