The Dilemma Of Marginalization-A Cultural Semiological Analysis Of Elizabeth Jolley's Milk And Honey

The thesis aims to arrive at a semiological interpretation of Elizabeth Jolley's fiction Milk and Honey, trying to probe into the concern with the living conditions of the marginalized people and the relationship between human beings that are reflected in the novel.As a migrant in Australia and a post-modern master of literature, Jolley possesses an acute insight of the living conditions and the world of the marginalized people within the post-modern framework. She shows great concern for the plight and predicament confronted by the weak and the low-classed in society. However, studies of the work are limited, and chiefly confined within its theme, characterization, structural pattern as well as writing features. Although there are a few scholars who have touched upon this book from the perspective of semiology, multi-dimentional analysis of the whole work from this perspective has not been made. Thus the present thesis will make an exploration into it in the light of cultural semiology, showing that it has reflected the suffering and plight of the marginal people in the land of Australia and conveyed Jolley's concern for the living state of the whole mankind. The marginal people may have a different or alien lifestyle that we don't understand, and to which we may show indifference or hostility, our unfriendly attitude can only add anguish to or hurt them who are also human beings as ourselves. Through the reflection of the relationships among people, Jolley seems to give people caution: when you are releasing yourselves, don't hurt others. When we are judging the relations with other people, what is important is to shoulder the responsibilities that are required by such relations. To be a responsible man is the constructive efforts of the postmodern overthrow of the unhealthy traditions and the re-establishment of the wholesome relations between people, between man and nature and between man and society.To begin with, the thesis gives an overview of the theory of cultural semiology relevant to the text analysis and makes an analysis of Jolley's connection with semiology, justifying the feasibility of setting up such a dialogue between Jolley and cultural semiology.Then, the present author makes a study of the migrants in Milk and Honey from the perspective of Jolley's own personal experience as a sign of marginalization. Through the stories of the migrants in the novel, Jolley seems to tell people that change is eternal and such things as perpetual do not exist. Rebirth can be gained only by melting actively into the new culture and trying to love it heartily.Next, the author of the thesis takes a close look into the subordinate position of women in the family with the character Louise as a specific example. Through the depiction of Louise in the novel, it is seen that Jolley seems to aim at an attack at the excessively money-oriented value system in the bourgeois society:the existence of women is just a form of capital and their value only lies in whether they can become a useable resource to realize the economic aim.Then again, the author makes a close analysis of the three marginalized mad people in the novel—Waldemar's mother, Waldemar and Elise. Through this important cultural sign of madness and the different fates of the three mad images, the author seems to advocate the termination of monoculturalism which the westerners regard as supreme, absolute and universal. It is held that if an open attitude towards madness is adopted, the meaning of life would correspondingly expand. Giving care to the mad and helping them regain dignity and corresponding reason is a new way of breaking through the man-made restraints of reason, the confinement of ourselves and others and obtaining full-scale salvation.Finally, the author of the paper argues that the three signs of marginal people—migrants, women and the mad—have abundant cultural connotations. Those living on the margin should not be looked down upon as humble or shameful. Instead, they should be regarded as real human beings as ourselves and be given proper humane care. The only way to prevent people from losing their mind is to break the bounds of center and margin and see the world as more diversified than the conventional dualistic one. This is an inevitable post-modern tendency transcending modern cultural system of values.