Alienation And Becoming:A Deleuzian Reading Of The Vegetarian

The 2016 Man Booker International Prize for fiction was awarded to Han Kang,a woman writer from South Korea,for her novel The Vegetarian,which has won her various awards such as the Yi Sang Literary Prize,the Korean Novel Prize in one fell swoop.Just as the works of a great writer tend to have the same theme,Han Kang's works also share a common theme,that is,to explore the possibility of creating a pure world in a world of violence.The Vegetarian narrates a story of a young married woman named Yeong-hye who insists on not eating meat food and later becomes paranoid about her desire to become a tree.And some unexpected devastating consequences bear down upon this innocent woman and her family,when she is bent on getting rid of the identity of “human being” and is eager to join the plant world.Since The Vegetarian has just entered the field of vision of the international community,not many research results can be found on the novel at home and abroad.Domestic scholars have mainly analyzed and studied the novel from the perspectives of text introduction,translation research,characterization research and structuralist literary criticism.Foreign scholars have mainly analyzed and studied The Vegetarian from the perspectives of interdisciplinary research,literary and aesthetic research,comparative literature research,post-humanist literary criticism research,etc.However,an interpretation of the protagonists and the characters in The Vegetarian from the perspective of becoming theory has not yet been tried at home and abroad.From the perspective of Deleuze's becoming theory,the thesis tries to analyze the pseudo-Deleuzian becoming journey of the heroine Yeong-hye and her nameless brother-in-law failing to become woman,plant(a tree),or child,thereby exploring or revealing the richness and complexity behind the tragedy of the characters under the feudal patriarchal alienation in this novel.This thesis consists of six parts: introduction,four chapters and conclusion.The introduction part mainly introduces the writer Han Kang,the main plots of The Vegetarian,a literature review of this novel at home and abroad,and the research purpose and significance of this thesis.The first chapter introduces Deleuze's becoming theory,including the concept of becoming theory,the relationship between alienation and becoming theory,and the concepts of line of flight and deterritorialization which are related to becoming theory.Then it uses Deleuze's becoming theory to illuminate the becomings of the protagonist Yeong-hye and her nameless brother-in-law in The Vegetarian,and points out the objective consistency and deviation between the two and Deleuzian becoming.The second chapter focuses on the societal and familial sources of alienation of the main characters in the novel,and analyzes the dual functions of the drive and hindrance of the feudal patriarchal culture in the text world to the process of becoming of the main characters(Yeong-hye and her brother-in-law).This chapter first analyzes the alienation and oppression of feudal patriarchy and marital power on Yeong-hye,and how to liberate Yeong-hye's desires of becoming-woman and becoming-plant(a tree).And then analyzes different manifestations and growth paths of Yeong-hye and her elder sister In-hye under the gaze of King-Lear-like feudal patriarchal system.At the end of this chapter,the heroine's brother-in-law,as the male subject of feudal patriarchal society,suffers the invisible gaze from the same source,becomes the confused self and alienated other,and instinctively embarks on the journey of becoming-child.The third chapter discusses the processes of Yeong-hye's becoming-woman,becoming-plant(a tree)and her brother-in-law's becoming-child,and the reasons for their failure.Yeong-hye's becomings,from “molar woman” to “molecular woman” and “molecular plant”,violate and break through the female “morality and behavior” stipulated by the feudal patriarchal system.Yeong-hye's becoming-woman and becoming-plant are to affect and acquire the unique vitality of “molecular woman” and “molecular plant”,thus enhancing her life power,and maximize life's potentialities.The reasons for the failure of Yeong-hye's becomings lie in as much the suppression of feudal patriarchal system as the reterritorialization of the individual in the process of becoming-woman.The reasons for the failure of her brother-in-law's becomings are not only the suppression of feudal patriarchy in his processes of becomings,but also his personality and family factors.The main task of the fourth chapter is to speculate on the tragic fate of the characters on the levels of novel and reality.The fourth chapter first analyzes the transcendent and universal significance of the confessional interior monologue by elder sister In-hye in the mental hospital.Second,on the basis of the open ending of this novel,explores the possibility that the main characters in the novel may get rid of predestination through becoming.Third,it puts forward a practical problem of literary function: numerous Yeong-hyes and nameless brothers-in-laws in the real society can also face the issues of self-salvation in a similar familial and ethical predicament of feudal patriarchal family.The conclusion part is a comprehensive summary of the arguments and argumentations of the thesis,and advances the following views: first of all,becoming theory may provide a shortcut to reveal the richness and complexity of the tragic novel The Vegetarian.However,it is impossible to exhaust all the connotation of an excellent work.Secondly,the reasons for the failure of Yeong-hye's and the nameless brother-in-law's becomings should explore both the vastness and complexity of the alienated reactionary forces,that is,taking into account the social,political,economic and cultural reality of South Korea,and the personality and familial factors.It cannot be simply and rigidly attributed to the absolute binary opposition between men and women and feudal patriarchy.Finally,the warning significance of the tragedy of becomings of the protagonist and main characters in the novel is closely related to the literary function,which can provide some reference for readers to think about and deal with similar ethical and moral issues in the current society.