關於<<保佑我, 烏荻瑪>>這本書, 我主要想討論兩個重點. 首先, 是書中主角安東尼之奧德賽式之心路歷程, 第二則是要討論安東尼之人格發展在其特殊之奇哥拿(Chicano)文化背景下所受到之影響與其因應之道. 基本上, 我對此小說之討論著重在其文化背景之論述上, 故關於安東尼之人格發展之討論上, 我著眼其族群意識上之發展, 從小說中找出他如何去認同其奇哥拿族群. 而關於奇哥拿之特殊生活背景, 我將會引用奇哥拿族群中發展出來之觀念—“族群混和(mestizaje).” 由於這種不尋常的生活條件, 造就了奇哥拿族群生存之曖昧和矛盾性, 但他們也因此因應出其對策, 也就是墨藉女批評家安則杜雅(Gloria Anzaldua)提出之邊域意識理論 (borderland consciousness), 強調其政治地位上之流動性與多變性. 另一方面, <<保佑我, 烏荻瑪>>此書中採用了很多奇哥拿文化中深具本土印第安色彩之民俗神話. 就安東尼之族群意識發展來看, 這些神話具有極大之重要性, 但另一方面, 這部份之描寫也常常使此小說被評為流於懷舊式之民俗地方志. 我也將探討種族歷史與時代性之間之關係. 在此書中, 我們可看到此二者並非是以絕對之衝突關係, 而是一具銜結性/因果性之存在. 此外, 書中穿插了安東尼之富戲劇性之夢境, 我也將討論這些夢對整體結構與安東尼人格發展之間的關係. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv Chinese Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .vi English Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . viii Introduction History of Struggles: The Chicanos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 Chapter One Myth as the Cultural Root: Ethnic Consolidation . . . . . . . . 29 Chapter Two The Process to Individuation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Chapter Three Man of Synthesis: The New World Person . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95 Conclusion The Hard-won Survival . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .120 Works Cited . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129 / From Bless Me, Ultima, I would like to present two major themes. First of all, it is the spiritual odyssey of the protagonist, Antonio. Second, my contention will move to Antonio’s psychological development, which is much under his Chicano cultural influences, and further on to his responding strategies. Basically, my emphasis will be laid on his gradual realization of his ethnic identity, regarding to the development of his personality. From the text, my task is to trace Antonio’s process of identification with his Chicano peers. I would apply to my discussion of the Chicano cultural background the idea of “mestizaje,” which is unique and evolved by Chicanos themselves. Such an unusual living condition creates a great degree of ambiguity and dilemma, but otherwise, Chicanos in response come out with their own strategy, which is called by Gloria Anzaldua “the borderland consciousness.” This notion largely draws from the dynamics and fluidity of their political status. On the other hand, Bless Me, Ultima is inserted greatly with indigenous Chicano/Indian folklore and legends. As far as Antonio’s ethnic consciousness is concerned, these myths contain a great importance. Whereas, this mythic aspect also tends to draw for the text negative criticism and hence the story is degraded as mere ethnography. From this discrepancy, I would lead my discussion of the novel further to the relation between ethnic history and contemporarity. In the text, these two units exist in a supplementary form, instead of being conflicting. In addition, the text is also inserted with a long sequence of dramatic dreams. I would like to discuss how these dreams affect the overall structure of the book and their relation to Antonio’s personality development.