미국 이민 사회의 구조적 폭력과 리좀적 생존 방식 : 줌파 라히리의 『저지대 』를 중심으로

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This thesis aims to analyze the diverse survival strategies displayed by the characters in Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Lowland under the structural violence of immigrant society, drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s theory of the “rhizome”. The novel’s characters-Subhash, Gauri, and Bela are compelled to conform to the standardized roles demanded by American immigrant society. Specifically, they encounter the structural violence produced by the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, which generated the discourse of the “model minority” as well as the “model of (re)productive citizenship”, a role imposed through the expectation of children and reproductive labor. Despite these pressures, the characters in The Lowland construct their own modes of survival in response to the structural violence of American immigrant society, and their strategies can be analyzed through the lens of rhizome theory.
The first chapter analyzes how the structural violence of American immigrant society is inflicted upon the characters. Subhash lives as a professional researcher who does not oppose American ideology or politics and does not cause social disturbance thus embodying the figure of the model minority. However, in order to maintain this position, he disciplines and regulates himself, bearing the resulting pain as his own burden. Gauri, who clashes with Subhash over the issue of child rearing, is forced into fixed roles as an immigrant woman. In a situation where her own will is suppressed and she must live under the identity imposed on immigrant women. Bela, as a second-generation immigrant is placed in a position where she must achieve social success according to the expectations of both her parents and society.
The second chapter focuses on how the characters in The Lowland construct their own modes of survival in response to the structural violence of immigrant society, analyzing these strategies through the characteristics of the rhizome. Specifically, it examines how “asignifying rupture” and “connection”, “heterogeneity”, and “deterritorialization/reterritorialization” manifest in the choices and actions of each character. Gauri’s refusal of child rearing, her departure from the household, and her pursuit of philosophical study and knowledge production reveal the features of asignifying rupture and new lines of connection. Subhash, who has long lived in conformity with American society, later exhibits rhizomatic heterogeneity in old age through his remarriage to Elise, an immigrant, and his acceptance of Bela when she returns as a single mother. Bela, as a second-generation immigrant, departs from the socially prescribed path of exemplary success and instead chooses a life of solidarity with marginalized individuals who exist outside normative definitions of achievement, thereby demonstrating the processes of deterritorialization and reterritorialization.
In the conclusion, the thesis will not only summarize the characters’ survival strategies through the lens of rhizomatic characteristics but also argue that rhizomatic ways of living offer a viable alternative for overcoming the structural violence of American immigrant society.

목차 (Table of Contents)

• I. 서론 1
• II. 『저지대』에 나타나는 미국 이민 사회의 구조적 폭력 14
• 1. 모범적 소수와 수바쉬 15
• 2. (재)생산적 시민권 모델과 가우리 27
• 3. 이민 2세와 벨라 33
• III. 리좀의 특징과 인물들의 생존 방식 38
• 1. 가우리의 비의미적 단절과 연결접속 40
• 2. 수바쉬의 이질성 51
• 3. 벨라의 탈영토화, 재영토화 및 노마드 56
• IV. 결론 66
• 인용문헌 69
• ABSTRACT 74