話語建構的世界

裴舒蕓

〖WTHZ〗Abstract：〖WTBZ〗Michel Foucault，the French postmodernist，has been hugely influential in shaping understandings of power and discourse.In his opinion，social groups，identities and positions do not pre瞖xist and somehow determine their own and other cultural meanings.They are produced within discourses which defines what they are and how they operate.In other words，the world is constructed within language.Aided by Foucaults theory of discourse and power，this paper is to present a critical examination of the Greek film 獶og Tooth and explore the strength of discourse in making and remaking the world in a particular way.

〖WTHZ〗Key Words：〖WTBZ〗Foucault；discourse；power；resistence〖WT〗

〖WTHZ〗ⅠIntroduction〖WT〗

The Greek film，獶og Tooth，depicts a wealthy but abnormal family，a couple with three adult children，living in a beautiful rural villa surrounded by high walls.Except for the father，who regularly go out to work to support the family，the wife and the three children are confined in the house and live a purely isolated life.To prevent his children from going out，the father depicts the world as evil with ferocious animals eating people everywhere，and they cant go out before the shedding of their “dog teeth”.Without network，newpaper，television and broadcast，the children dont have any information about the outside world and they can only receive twisted knowledge from their parents and play with some dull games day after day，such as putting their fingers in the hot water to see who can endure the longest.Raised in such a family，the three children are，on one hand，full of fear of the outside world；on the other hand，their curiosity and desire to explore the eternal world is repressed.However，the human nature of yearning for freedom and the desire to communicate with the outside world is unstoppable anyway.Gradually，conflict and hatred arise within this family.In the end，the eldest daughter，the most rebellious one，smashed her teeth with a dumbbell and escaped from the house.

〖WTHZ〗ⅡFoucauts Theory of Discourse and Power〖WT〗

Machel Foucault(192684)was a French philosopher and historian who has had a dramatic and far瞨eaching impact on cultural studies through his work on the connections between power，discourse and subjectivity.Discourse is conversation，or information.For Foucault，a discourse exists as a set of “rules” which determine what the criteria for truth are and what sorts of things can be talked about.

For Foucault，it is through discourse that we are created.Think of it this way：if it is true that we are the sum of our experiences，then those in control of our early life experiences have enormous power.In an isolated family，a childs knowledge depends upon just a few people.In a sense，those few people，such as parents，create the childs identity.The child cant know anything but what is communicated to them.Likewise，if our identity is created by the media，our world view is limited to the world view of a few individual.Thus，we can see that discourse is created and perpetuated by those who have the power and means of communication.Those who are in control decide who we are by deciding what we discuss.

According to Foucault，truth，morality and meaning are created through discouse.Every age has a dominant group of discursive elements that people live in unconsciously.Those in dominant position privilege ideas of what is normal and acceptable which people are expected to behave accordingly；by stressing these values，the “authority” implicitly marginalizes those who dont hold those values.Change may only happen when a new counter瞕iscursive elements begin to receive wide attention through the means of communication，which is called resistence.

〖WTHZ〗ⅢA Case Study of Dog tooth〖WT〗

Lets have a further analysis of this film.To put the children under his totalitarian rule，the father tried every means to instill discipline in them，ensuring their bodies and souls function in a uniform and standardized way，such as violence——the children are often beaten and scolded；brainwashing——the recorder repeatedly plays“love family” propaganda；bribery——the father regularly hires a female employee from his company to satisfy his sons sexual desire.Among these measures，a core element is the transformation of language.

“Today we are going to study some new words including，the sea，highway，hiking……The sea is a kind of leather sofa.When you are tired，you can say，‘I want to sit on the sea.The highway is a strong wind.Hiking is a hard material……” Since the children can only get information from their parents，all of the“dangerous”words which may arouse the childrens fantasy and longing for the outside world are endowed with a different meaning.In this family，all unfathomable words are defined as safe and comfortable；the magic are defined as insipid；the fascinating are defined as dull.When the son hears a word“zombie”and asks the mother what that means，the mother answers，“Zombie is a kind of small yellow flower.”The maintenance of this“harmonious family”is based on lies.Dog tooth is another important image in the film.According to the father，shedding of dog tooth marks the maturity of people.As long as their dog tooth does not fall，it shows that they havent grown up and cant adapt to the outside world.

Through distortion of language，the children are completely brainwashed，their thoughts have been tamed and their feelings have been numbed.When a cat broke into the yard，the son mercilessly kills the intruder without hesitation.The father said，“Well done! Cat is a cruel animal which eats people for living.”Through these example，we can see that redefining words is a way of controlling thoughts and thus power is constructed within this family by the tool of discourse(language).

〖WTHZ〗IVconclusion〖WT〗

This film is a lively example of Foucaults idea that discourse(language)does not only reflect or represent the world，but that it constructs.By revelation of the absurdity of the“utopia”constructed by the father，this paper explores the strength of discourse in making and remaking the world in a particular way.

〖WTHZ〗References：〖WT〗ぁ糥D!〗

［1］ Elaine Baldwin Longhurst Smith.Introducing Ccultural Studies.Bei jing University press，2005.

［2］ Lois Tyson.Cirtical Theory Today.Routledge，2006.

［3］ http：∥movie.douban.com/review/5050283/.

［4］ http：∥answers.獃ahoo.com/question/index?qid=200809061 34243AAEceR2.