Discipline,Oppression And Resistance

George R.R.Martin is praised as the “The American Tolkien” by Time owing to the world-wide attention his epic fantasy A Song of Ice and Fire has received.The series is located in a quasi-medieval fantasy world,centering on the political struggle of noble houses,and focusing on the marginalized group.Under the guidance of Foucault’s power theory,through detailed analysis of the power relation embedded in the epic fantasy,this thesis contends that though faced with discipline and oppression,the marginalized group still can autonomously resist against the disciplinary power.This thesis is composed of three parts,including the introduction,the body and the conclusion.The first part introduces George R.R.Martin,the author of A Song of Ice and Fire,the book itself,literature review and theoretical basis.The body part consists of three chapters.The first chapter discovers that females and marginalized males are under the constant surveillance of patriarchal discourse,and points out that it imposes ubiquitous gaze upon them through panopticism and renders them all under the pervasive net of power;The second chapter analyzes the oppression of body faced by females and marginalized males.The female body is utilized in various ways,dominated in sexuality by males,objectified in marriage and exploited as reproduction tool to sustain the family lineage.Abnormal male body is excluded for not conforming to the social norms of patriarchy,such as the dwarf who does not meet the patriarchal standards of male body,the effeminate man and the bastard,and they are marginalized by the patriarchal society;The third chapter explores the resistant actions taken by the marginalized group and reveals that even though they are in the society where the patriarchal discipline permeates,they still possess certain resistant spirit so as to manage to apply different measures to resist against the disciplinary power.Through control of body and aesthetics of existence,they attempt to escape from the shackles of social norms so as to pursue freedom and redemption.The last part unfolds the conclusion that in spite of the pervasiveness of disciplinary power and the oppression of the body,there is still hope for the marginalized group to resist against the power and achieve spiritual freedom of certain degree.Though Martin is a male writer of the mainstream group,his demonstration of discipline,oppression and resistance of the marginalized group in the book shows his critical attitude toward patriarchy and solicitude for the predicament of the oppressed group.