ABSTRACT

Eugenics told many stories. A story of a degenerative present, a story of a dystopian future and, more importantly, a story of how to avert this perceived imminent decay. Put together, these stories read like an unraveling of a linear plot, with a suspended conclusion. At the same time, eugenicists liked to constantly highlight the scientific foundations of their theory. In the “science” of eugenics, however, the narrating is contained and limited, only serving to legitimize the scientific ideas. Literature, on the other hand, remains free to speculate further. An investigation of literary texts might reveal how the combination of eugenic ideas with fictional plots and literary innovation inevitably introduced complexity and ambiguity, thus undermining rather than reinforcing the scientific authority eugenics was eager to claim. By looking at some of Dr. Arabella Kenealy’s novels, this article analyses the problems associated with dramatizing eugenic aims in fictional plots, especially when it comes to women’s professional and familial position.

摘要

优生学讲了很多故事。一个关于退化现在的故事，一个关于反乌托邦未来的故事，更重要的是，一个关于如何避免这种即将到来的衰退的故事。放在一起，这些故事读起来就像线性情节的展开，结局悬而未决。与此同时，优生学家喜欢不断强调他们理论的科学基础。然而，在优生学的“科学”中，叙述是含蓄和有限的，只是为了使科学思想合法化。另一方面，文学仍然可以自由地进一步推测。对文学文本的调查可能会揭示优生学思想与虚构情节和文学创新的结合如何不可避免地引入复杂性和歧义，从而破坏而不是加强优生学渴望宣称的科学权威。