Frontiers of Theatre Studies
FTS, Vol. 1, No. 1, 2026, pp.1-9.
Print ISSN: 3106-8073; Online ISSN: 3106-8081
Journal homepage: https://www.ftsjournal.com
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64058/fts260101stwgp
全球视野下的底层创伤见证：诺塔奇戏剧《毁灭》中的阈限叙事
赵永健（Zhao Yongjian）, 余 美（Yu Mei）
摘要：琳恩·诺塔奇的经典剧作《毁灭》以刚果内战为背景，讲述了一群被战争暴力摧残的女性的故事，对她们的生存困境给予了深切的观照。本文借助人类学的阈限理论，从空间、身体与道德三个维度探讨作品如何悖论性地再现了非洲底层女性的阈限体验和生存困境。诺塔奇将非洲底层女性置于酒吧这个具有临界性和矛盾性的阈限空间，让她们讲述和展示自己被暴力侵害毁损的身体，让她们的阈限身体成为战争暴力的具象化符号。剧中的阈限性不仅体现在布景空间和底层经验上，更贯穿于道德主题的建构过程，呈现出一个具有道德模糊性的阈限情境。这种多维度的阈限表征，赋予作品深刻的道德意蕴与审美体验。
关键词：琳恩·诺塔奇；《毁灭》；底层创伤；阈限空间；阈限身体；道德阈限
作者简介：赵永健（通讯作者），浙江工商大学外国语学院副教授，研究方向：当代英美戏剧。电子邮箱：michael_zyj@163.com。余美，浙江工商大学外国语学院讲师。研究方向：当代美国戏剧。电子邮箱：yumeilisa@126.com。
Title: Subaltern Trauma Witnessing in a Global Perspective: A Study of Liminal Narrative in Lynn Nottage’s Ruined
Abstract: Lynn Nottage’s seminal play, Ruined, is set against the backdrop of the Congolese Civil War, exploring the existential plight of the African women ravaged by wartime violence. Drawing upon the anthropological theory of liminality, this paper explores how the work paradoxically reifies the liminal experiences and survival struggles of marginalized African women across three dimensions: space, body, and morality. Nottage situates marginalized African women within the bar, a liminal space defined by its marginality and inherent contradictions, compelling them to narrate and exhibit their bodies ravaged by sexual violence. Consequently, their liminal bodies become a concrete symbolic manifestation of the atrocities of war. In the play, liminality transcends physical settings and subaltern experiences, permeating the very construction of the moral subject to produce a “liminal situation” marked by ethical ambiguity. This multi-dimensional artistic representation imbues the work with profound moral resonance and a compelling aesthetic experience.
Keywords: Lynn Nottage; Ruined; subaltern trauma; liminal space; liminal body; moral liminality
Author Biographies: Zhao Yongjian (Corresponding Author), Associate Professor at the School of Foreign Languages, Zhejiang Gongshang University. Research Area: Contemporary American and British Drama. E-mail: michael_zyj@163.com. Yu Mei, Lecturer at the School of Foreign Languages, Zhejiang Gongshang University. Research Area: Contemporary American Drama. E-mail: yumeilisa@126.com.
Received: 28 Feb 2026 / Revised: 13 May 2026 / Accepted: 05 Jun 2026 / Published online: 30 May 2026 / Print published: 30 Jun 2026.
