阿蘭達蒂•羅依的第一部長篇小說(也是目前唯一一部)《微物之神》迄今已出版了八年之久。由於書中所觸及到的議題繁多，包括印度賤民階級所受到的不平等待遇，施加在婦女身上的肉體與精神上的暴力，或是在全球化下地方文化的邊緣化，所以至今仍贏得許多不同領域的研究者的關注。有些研究者將這本小說視為一個表現後殖民時期印度社會的文本；有些則將其視為將正規英文轉化為實驗性語言的絕佳典範；另外有些則將其視為一本宣揚女性權利的小說。 以上這些議題我在這本論文中或多或少都有所涉及，並以「純潔」典範的角度來探討。這裡所謂的「純潔」典範，指的是一種只接受特定受認可特質，並排斥任何在認可範圍外的存在，具將其視為「不潔」的系統。因此在文中「純潔」一字的指涉範圍含括衛生方面的乾淨，儀式上的潔淨，以至於在種族以及文化意含中的純淨。在第一章中，我會對文本做一個背景知識的介紹。在第二章，我將表明羅伊在小說中刻意破壞「大論述」的目的，並說明羅伊行文中表現出「大故事」的單薄度，以及這些大故事如何造成弱勢主體的隱没。在第三章中，討論將延伸到維魯沙這個角色上。首先我會解釋及解讀他賤民身份所被賦與的本質，接下來我會分析他所帶有的「不潔」意涵是如何及為什麼使他成為是代罪羔羊。在第四章中，我同樣的運用「純潔」與「不潔」間的對立關係來解讀小說中女性角色的處境。如同維魯沙一般，瑞海兒與阿慕也同樣在「純潔」符碼的宰制之下。它的標準支配了女性以及母性的合宜行止的內含。這些女性主角們也因此受限於「純潔」意涵的羅網之中。最後，我會在第五章中回頭總結前面幾章所提到的議題。此外，我會對於羅伊小說內容中所反映出來的當代印度社會與歷史的角度做一些討論，因為這點曾經引起爭議，並以此做為這本論文的尾聲。 / Arundhati Roy’s prestigious first novel (and maybe the only novel), The God of Small Things, has already come out for eight years. It contains such exuberance of topics, such as the inequality towards the untouchables, the physical and mental violence abuse upon woman, or the marginalization of the local culture under the influences of globalization, that it has earned the attention of many researchers from different fields even till now. Some of researchers consider the text as a fiction which presents postcolonial India, others find the book as a perfect demonstration of how proper English is transformed into a more experimental form; still others treat the novel as an assertion of female rights. In this thesis, I more or less touch all of the above topics, and investigate them in the light of “the model of purity,” the system which only recognizes the approved essence and wipes off anything that is not. Thus in this thesis the term purity refers to concepts of the hygienic purity, ritual purity, and also the purity in the ethnic and cultural aspect. I will give background knowledge to the book in Chapter One. Then, in Chapter Two I declare Roy’s intention to mime the grand narrative in her novel, and how Roy’s writing lays bare the fragility of The Great Stories and how they work to ensure the invisibility of the minor subjects. In Chapter Three, I extend my discussion to the character Velutha. Firstly I explain and interpret his essence by his untouchable background; then I will analyze how and why his impure essence makes him a victim of others’ irrational malice. In Chapter Four, I also apply the opposition of purity and impurity to read the situation of the female characters in the novel. Like Velutha, the heroines Rahel and Ammu are also under surveillance of the purity code. The criterion of purity dictates not only the context of decent womanhood but also motherhood. The female protagonists are thus caught in the inescapable network of purity. Finally, I will have a retrospective look on my thesis in Chapter Five. Apart from this, I will have a brief discussion about the social reality reflected in Roy’s text as this issue once brought about controversy. This small debate will serve as my finale.

[pt] Este trabalho examina o fenômeno de retomada da estética da transparência na arquitetura a partir dos anos 1990, depois de anos de latência desde a substituição da linguagem moderna, abstrata e etérea, das primeiras vanguardas por outra que expressasse aspectos regionais e fenomenológicos. Tal retomada estaria associada ao desenvolvimento das novas tecnologias digitais e à realidade estruturada segundo a dinâmica do capitalismo pós-industrial. Estas configurariam uma estrutura urbana desmaterializada, instável e independente da construção física. Tais mudanças teriam tornado obsoletos os paradigmas da solidez, funcionalidade e beleza, herdados da tradição clássica. A tendência ao desaparecimento das qualidades substanciais da arquitetura e a consequente perda dos referenciais fenomenológicos nos recolocou a questão do habitar. A estética da transparência estaria inicialmente associada à concepção iluminista, que pressupunha a clareza dos objetos e a emancipação do sujeito, mas se desdobrará no sentido da ambiguidade em função da ruptura com o conceito de espaço euclidiano, ocorrida em torno de 1910. Tal ruptura teria sido promovida tanto pelas descobertas científicas que unificavam as dimensões de tempo e espaço, quanto pela disseminação de imagens aéreas cinematográficas. As imagens retratavam o espaço topológico e apresentavam a realidade sob a ordem da fragmentação e da perda de perspectiva. A concepção de espaço topológico foi também associada aos sentimentos de angústia e desenraizamento, experimentados pelo homem moderno. A expressão dessa patologia nas artes de vanguarda será criticada por fomentar a desarticulação do engajamento político através de um método que promoveria a perda de visão da totalidade do real. Tal método teria sido desenvolvido por Wilhelm Worringer a partir da noção de Vontade de Arte, expressa no impulso para abstração, este relativo ao conceito do espaço topológico. Este trabalho verificou que tal mudança na concepção de espaço levará à reformulação do conceito de transparência de literal para fenomênica, caracterizada nas artes pela representação de múltiplos pontos de vista, da interpenetração espacial e da perda de profundidade. A transparência fenomênica será associada contemporaneamente ao espaço paranoico, que viria sendo desenvolvido com a contribuição da tecnologia digital em termos espaciais e da mutação dos corpos segundo sua conexão com a realidade virtual. A tecnologia cibernética determinaria um novo tipo de expressão da alienação e o desdobramento da noção de transparência, que qualificamos como abjeta. A transparência foi associada pelos primeiros modernos à expressão de japonidade na arquitetura, cuja essência o desenvolvimento da história tratou de contrariar ao evidenciar seu modo interativo. Verificamos neste trabalho algumas das contribuições japonesas em função de suas qualidades locais. Tomamos o edifício para a Midiateca Sendai (2001) de Toyo Ito como objeto de estudo. A Midiateca levaria ao extremo a noção de transparência ao estendê-la das fachadas às estruturas vazadas, pensadas como expressão do espaço puro na linguagem abstrata moderna. Seu programa seria multifuncional e aberto a mudanças, considerando a participação da comunidade e dos demais membros institucionais desde o processo de projeto. Esta obra responderia tanto à questão da autonomia artística quanto à da perda de função social, associadas ao esteticismo das vanguardas modernas. / [en] This dissertation examines the phenomenon of the revival of the aesthetics of transparency in architecture since the 1990s, when the expression of regional and phenomenological aspects has been replaced by a modern, abstract and ethereal language. This revival has been associated with the development of new digital technologies and with post-industrial capitalism, producing dematerialized and unstable urban structures which are independent of their physical construction. Such changes would have rendered the classical tradition paradigms of solidity, functionality and beauty obsolete. The tendency towards the disappearance of the substantial qualities of architecture and the consequent loss of phenomenological references has brought us back to the question of dwelling. The aesthetics of transparency has been associated with the Enlightenment and it presupposes clarity of objects and emancipation of the subject. However, around 1910, it produced a sense of ambiguity due to the rupture with the concept of Euclidean space. Such a rupture may have been promoted both by the scientific discoveries that unified the dimensions of time and space, and by the dissemination of cinematographic aerial images. These images portrayed the topological space and presented a fragmented reality without perspective. The conception of topological space has also been associated with the feelings of anguish and uprooting of the modern human being. The expression of this pathology in the avant-garde arts has been criticized for fomenting the disarticulation of the political engagement through a method that would promote the loss of a complete vision of reality. Wilhelm Worringer has allegedly developed the method from the notion of the Will to Art expressed as an urge to abstraction, which is related to the concept of topological space. The present study verified that such a change in the conception of space leads to a literal and phenomenal reformulation of the concept of transparency, which is characterized in the arts by the representation of multiple points of view, spatial interpenetration and loss of depth. Phenomenal transparency is nowadays associated with a paranoid space, which is developed with the contribution of digital technology in spatial terms and the transformation of bodies according to their connection with virtual reality. Cybernetic technology may be determining a new kind of expression of alienation of the notion of transparency, which we consider to be abject. The early moderns have associated transparency with the expression of Japan-ness, which has been described as essentially interactive. Here we verify some of the Japanese contributions due to their local qualities. Our object of study is the Sendai Mediatheque (2001), by Toyo Ito. This building takes the notion of transparency to the extreme by extending it from the facades to the hollow structures, which is considered an expression of pure space in modern abstract language. Its program is multifunctional and open to change, and the community and other institutional members are involved with the project. Ito s work brings into question the artistic autonomy as well as the loss of social function, which is associated with the aestheticism of modern avant-gardes. / [de] Subjekts voraussetzte. Um 1910, wird es wird aber zweideutig aufgrund des Bruches mit dem Begriff des euklidischen Raums. Dieser Bruch wurde sowohl durch die wissenschaftliche Entdeckungen der Vereinheitlichung der Dimensionen von Zeit und Raum gefordert, , als auch durch die Verbreitung kinematografischer Luftbilder. Diese Bilder portratierten den topologischen Raum und prasentierten eine fragmentierte Realitat mit Perspektivverlust. Die Konzeption des topologischen Raums war auch mit den Gefuhlen der Angst und Entwurzelung des modernen Menschen verbunden. Der Ausdruck dieser Pathologie bei der kunstlerischen Avantgarde wird zur Forderung des Abbaus des politischen Engagements durch ein Verfahren kritisiert werden, die den Verlust des Sehvermogens der Gesamtheit der Wirklichkeit fordern wurden. Diese Methode soll von Wilhelm Worringer aus dem Begriff der Kunstwollen entwickelt worden sein. Sie ist durch den Abstraktionsdrang ausgedruckt, und ist auf den Begriff des topologischen Raumsbezogen. Diese Studie ergab, dass eine solche Anderung in der Gestaltung des Raumes auf die Neuformulierung des Konzepts der Transparenz von wortliches zu phanomenale fuhren wird, was in der Kunst durch mehrere Gesichtspunkte, raumlichen Dringen und Verlust der Tiefe gekennzeichnet ist. Phanomenale Transparenz wird gleichzeitig mit paranoidem Raum assoziiert, der mit dem Beitrag der digitalen Technologie in raumlicher Hinsicht und der Mutation von Korpern entsprechend ihrer Verbindung mit virtueller Realität entwickelt wird. Die kybernetische Technologie wurde einen neuen Ausdruck der Entfremdung und die Entfaltung des Begriffs der Transparenz bestimmen, was wir als abjekt bezeichnen. Transparenz wurde in der Modernitat mit Japan-heit verbunden. Ihr interaktiven Modus wurde in der Geschichte demonstriert. Wir uberprufen in dieser Arbeit einige der japanischen Beitrage mit ihren lokalen Qualitaten. Unser Untersuchungsobjekt ist das Gebaude fur die Mediathek in Sendai (2001), von Toyo Ito. Die Mediathek nimmt den Begriff der Transparenz zum Extrem, da ihre Fassaden sich an den hohlen Strukturen erweitert. Diese Strukturen sind ein Ausdruck des reinen Raumes in der modernen abstrakten Sprache. Die Mediathek ist multifunktional und veranderungsfahig, und die Gemeinschaft ist am Projekt beteiligt. Das Werk von Toyo Ito stellt in Frage die kunstlerische Autonomie als Verlust der sozialen Funktion entsprechen, die mit dem Asthetizismus der modernen Avantgarde verbunden ist.