跨國女性菁英和勞工是全球化時代下新興的主體，然而不論在政經法各領域鮮少受到任何關注。身為兩大支撐全球化城市經濟運作的族群，她們分別擁有最優勢及最劣勢的全球移動權。藉由一本小說和三部影片關於女性菁英、非法移工、和外籍勞工的再現，本文試圖從不同的身體面向切入，來探討其主體性在此場域上如何一再地被競逐建構。
第一章討論身體經驗如何重建翁達吉小說（Anil’s Ghost）中女性菁英的離散身份，讓她逐漸意識到自身對於親密感、人際關係、和同理心的需求，最後認同自己為斯里蘭卡的一份子；第二章分析<美麗壞東西>中城市空間的（不）可見政治，以片中女性非法移工被性化的影像來檢視其身體與令人排斥的倫敦空間之間的轉喻關連；第三章則聚焦於兩部關於台灣女性外籍勞工的紀錄片，<八東病房>和<印尼女傭尤尼希>，討論身體實踐在家務勞動商品化過程中所扮演的角色。這四個文本呈現出全球經濟對跨國女性及相關議題所造成的深遠影響，藉由這些文本的再現，筆者試圖提出以身體作為主體形成的競逐場域的可能性，也期望吸引更多研究者一起來重新想像/建構全球化時代下跨國女性的主體性。

Female elites and transnational workers are the newly-emerging subjects in the global age yet seldom receive any recognitions whether in realms of economy, laws or politics. They are the two main groups that best bolster global cities’ economy and positioned respectively in the top and bottom of global mobility. Dealing with the representations of female elites, illegal immigrant workers and foreign workers in one novel and three films, the thesis aims to explore different dimensions of body in which their subjectivity is contested and constructed.
Chapter One uncovers how the bodily experience helps reconstruct the diasporic identity of a female elite, who gradually directs her to recognize her need of intimacy, relationship as well as human empathy and finally reclaims her identity as a Sri Lankan. Chapter Two analyzes the politics of (in)visibility in the urban space in Dirty Pretty Things. Examining the sexualized images of an illegal immigrant worker, I suggest her body is linked with the undesirable side of London through a series of metonymic associations. Chapter Three focuses on two documentary films about female foreign workers in Taiwan, Hospital Wing 8 East and Yuning’s Return. I discuss the key role that bodily practices play in the process of commodified domestic labor. These four texts together reveal the impacts of the global economy on these transnational women and various issues concerning their lives. Dealing with these representations, I propose the possibility that the dimension of body is taken as a contested arena for the formation of subjectivity. Moreover, I expect to draw scholars’ attentions to construct new ways of re-imagining subjecthood of transnational women in the global age.

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