身似断云零落——20世纪初期新加坡的妹仔

随着华人向新加坡移民的增多,妹仔也成为新加坡华人社会之一特殊群体。论文以社会性别为研究视角,在梳理妹仔研究现状和妹仔习俗流变的基础上,探究20世纪初期新加坡华人妹仔在社会转型过程中的历史境遇,进而解析中西文明冲突与交融背景下性别、阶级、种族等多重因素在政治、经济和社会层面的纠合。在近代社会新陈代谢的过程中,政府颁布废婢法令,妹仔习俗逐渐走向衰落。妹仔习俗作为内嵌于东方传统父权制社会形态的元素,在西方文明东渐的殖民背景下,不可避免地成为中西文明冲突与融合的一个角力点。

Mui Tsai in the Early 20th Century's Singapore

Adopting the approach of gender study,the author researches mui tsai's prototype in China,its transplanted version in Singapore,and its eventual demise as a result of theFemale Domestic Servants Bill and the Mui Tsai Bill promulgated by the British colonial government.The author notes that,in Chinese patriarchal society,mui tsai were no more than a variant of a housemaid with certain bondages on their freedom,but they were perceived by the mui-tsai abolition movement as slaves who had long been liberated i...