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]

到1855年为止,这个词已经被白人上层社会广泛使用。在19世纪,美国南方无论哪个种族都常用这个词。[8]

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。

相关條目

注释

  1. Matt Wray, Not Quite White: White Trash and the Boundaries of Whiteness (2006) p. 2
  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).
  3. Wray (2006) page x.
  4. Wray, Not Quite White (2006) pp. 79, 102
  5. Fannie Kemble, Journal (1835) p. 81
  6. Matt Wray, Not Quite White: White Trash and the Boundaries of Whiteness (2006) pp 42-44
  7. Wray (2006) pp 57-58
  8. Annalee Newitz & Matthew Wray, What is White Trash?, in Whiteness: a Critical Reader, Mike Hill, ed., (NYU Press, 1997), pg. 170.
  9. Sherrie A. Inness, Secret ingredients: race, gender, and class at the dinner table (2006) p. 147
  10. Erik Bledsoe, "The Rise of Southern Redneck and White Trash Writers," Southern Cultures。 (2000) 6#1 pp. 68-90 in Project MUSE
  11. William Julius Wilson in Ernest Cashmore and James Jennings, eds. Racism: essential readings (2001) p. 188
  12. Philip C. Kolin, Contemporary African American Women Playwrights (2007) p. 29
  13. David R. Roediger, Take Black on white: Black writers on what it means to be white (1999) pp. 13, 123
  14. Philip C. Kolin, Contemporary African American Women Playwrights (2007) p. 29
  15. Festus E. Obiakor, Bridgie Alexis Ford, Creating Successful Learning Environments for African-American Learners With Exceptionalities (2002) p. 198
  16. Anand Prahlad, The Greenwood encyclopedia of African American folklore (2006) Volume 2 p. 966
  17. 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
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