白色垃圾
白色垃圾(英語:)是美国英语裡对贫穷白人,特别是对美国南方乡村地区白人的贬称。这个词语暗示较低的社会阶层和不体面的生活方式。在使用这个词的时候,人们往往特指一些生活在社会边缘,被主流社会视为危险分子的人。他们常和犯罪沾边,行为不可预测,对权威、法律和道德缺乏尊重[1]。这个词一般被用来攻击别人,不过也有人以此自嘲,如2008年的幽默书《白色垃圾妈妈的掌中宝:拥抱你内心的拖车公园,忘记完美,拒绝被家长联盟同化,保持理智并坚持幽默》[2]。
和“白色垃圾”语义相近的词有:cracker(乔治亚州和弗罗里达州的贫穷白人)、hillbilly(阿巴拉契亚的贫穷白人)、Okie(俄克拉何马州的贫穷白人) 和redneck(主要是針對鄉村)[3]。以上词汇都强调一个族群的贫穷、缺少教育、思想落后,但“白色垃圾”更强调一群人缺乏道德感[4]。
历史
White trash 一词最早在1830年代流行起来,这个词来自当时黑人奴隶对贫穷白人的蔑称[5]。在《不够白:白色垃圾和白人的边界》一书中,作者认为“白色垃圾”一词来自1830年代的华盛顿地区,当穷苦白人抢走黑人工作的时候,黑人用这个词称呼他们(讽刺他们作为白人在各方面都有优先权,本来有更好的工作机会,却沦落到抢黑人的饭碗)[6]。
1854年,《汤姆叔叔的小屋》作者在描述美国奴隶制度时说,奴隶制度不仅制造了被降格的、痛苦的黑奴,还让穷苦白人更被降格、更痛苦。她认为种植园经济造成贫富差距极大,同时那里缺乏学校和教堂,贫穷白人没有获得尊严的机会。这些“白色垃圾”同時遭到黑人和白人的鄙视[7]。
现代使用
现代有很多白人说自己出身“白色垃圾”家庭,作为谦虚自嘲的说法。有些人语义中表达对社会贫富不均的抗议,特别是社会对白人贫穷问题的忽视。在自称为“白色垃圾”时,说话人也会表达出大而化之、随遇而安的生活观念,或者节俭、艰苦奋斗的美德。[9]
1980年代,美国南方涌现了一大批描写“白色垃圾”生活的小说,它们的作者往往也自称为“白色垃圾”或者“红脖子”。[10]
美国黑人常用“白色垃圾”一词攻击白人[11][12] [13],特别是在被称为“黑鬼”的时候[14]。也有些黑人父母把这个观念灌输给小孩[15]。这个词也常出现在黑人口头文学中[16]。根据这些故事,当没外人听到的时候,黑人奴隶们会说:某个恶劣的监工“连白色垃圾都不如”,“待人太残酷了”[17]。
白色垃圾在亞洲是指那些不務正業的貧窮白人。
注释
- Matt Wray, Not Quite White: White Trash and the Boundaries of Whiteness (2006) p. 2
- See also Ernest Mickler White Trash Cooking (1986); Kendra Morris, White Trash Gatherings: From-Scratch Cooking for down-Home Entertaining (2006); Verne Edstrom, White Trash Etiquette: The Definitive Guide to Upscale Trailer Park Manners (2006); Bill Marbry, Talkin' White Trash (2011).
- Wray (2006) page x.
- Wray, Not Quite White (2006) pp. 79, 102
- Fannie Kemble, Journal (1835) p. 81
- Matt Wray, Not Quite White: White Trash and the Boundaries of Whiteness (2006) pp 42-44
- Wray (2006) pp 57-58
- Annalee Newitz & Matthew Wray, What is White Trash?, in Whiteness: a Critical Reader, Mike Hill, ed., (NYU Press, 1997), pg. 170.
- Sherrie A. Inness, Secret ingredients: race, gender, and class at the dinner table (2006) p. 147
- Erik Bledsoe, "The Rise of Southern Redneck and White Trash Writers," Southern Cultures。 (2000) 6#1 pp. 68-90 in Project MUSE
- William Julius Wilson in Ernest Cashmore and James Jennings, eds. Racism: essential readings (2001) p. 188
- Philip C. Kolin, Contemporary African American Women Playwrights (2007) p. 29
- David R. Roediger, Take Black on white: Black writers on what it means to be white (1999) pp. 13, 123
- Philip C. Kolin, Contemporary African American Women Playwrights (2007) p. 29
- Festus E. Obiakor, Bridgie Alexis Ford, Creating Successful Learning Environments for African-American Learners With Exceptionalities (2002) p. 198
- Anand Prahlad, The Greenwood encyclopedia of African American folklore (2006) Volume 2 p. 966
- Claude H. Nolen, African American Southerners in Slavery, Civil War and Reconstruction (2005) p. 81
参考资料
- Berger, Maurice (2000). White Lies: Race and the Myths of Whiteness. ISBN 0-374-52715-6.
- Goad, Jim (1998). The Redneck Manifesto: How Hillbillies Hicks and White Trash Became Americas Scapegoats. ISBN 0-684-83864-8.
- Hartigan, John Jr (2005). Odd Tribes: Toward a Cultural Analysis of White People. Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3597-2
- Rasmussen, Dana. . BiblioBazaar. 2011.
- Smith, Dina. "Cultural Studies' Misfit: White Trash Studies", Mississippi Quarterly 2004 57(3): 369-387, traces the emergence of 'white trash studies' as a scholarly field by placing representative 20th-century popular images of 'white trash' in their Southern economic and cultural contexts.
- Sullivan, Nell (2003). Academic Constructions of 'White Trash' , in: Adair, Vivyan Campbell, and Sandra L. Dahlberg, eds. (2003) Reclaiming Class. Women, Poverty, and the Promise of Higher Education in America. Temple University Press. ISBN 1-59213-021-6
- Wray, Matt and Annalee Newitz, eds. (1997). White Trash: Race and Class in America. ISBN 0-415-91692-5.
- Wray, Matt. Not Quite White: White Trash and the Boundaries of Whiteness (2006)
- Pitcher, Ben (2007). The Problem with White Trash - Review of M. Wray (2007) Not Quite White, Duke University Press. ISBN 0-8223-3873-4. darkmatter journal