The “Hope ... on this Side of the Grave＂: E. M. Forster's Deconstructive Conception of Subjectivity

This paper explores Forster's conception of subjectivity, which it takes as being crucial to his ambiguous treatment of personal relationships in Howards End. In this novel, Ruth Wilcox's escape from the representation by baptism, marriage and funeral inspires Margaret Schlegel with a new conception of human beings and personal relationships, which is conveyed, however obliquely, by the bewildering ＂hope ... on this side of the grave.＂ To decipher what conception is concealed in this hope, this paper examines Forster's presentation of these social conventions and argues that they are all inscribed within an operation of self-annulment, just as is, for Derrida, a text's meaning. This suggests that Forster, like Derrida, also takes subjectivity as differance. This conception is further illustrated in a reflection on the essential nature of matrimony, which is extended to other social traditions but with its meaning indefinitely deferred, differant. In conclusion, this paper argues that Forster's obscure perspective on human relations in this novel actually originates in his awareness of the differance of reality, its structural obscurity which can never be made fully evident.

關鍵字

Forster ； Howards End ； human relations ； subjectivity ； deconstruction ； differance

並列摘要

本文旨在探討佛斯特在《霍爾莊園》中的主體觀，藉此闡明為何他在小說中對人際關係的處理始終採取一種矛盾的兩手策略。露絲的瘁死使瑪格麗特深刻體悟到人不斷流變的生命歷程，實際上並無法單純地為所謂的受洗、婚姻或葬禮等社會儀式所註記，由此她對人的存有以及人際關係得到一種新的理解。然其內涵究竟如何，佛斯特卻只用一句非常令人費解的「墳墓這方的希望」來描述。為了解開這令人困惑的語詞背後所潛藏的意涵，德希達對現實世界的看法提供了一個重要的導引。他的「延異」(differance)所標示的時間和空間的間隙，提供一個視角，藉以切入佛斯特透過露絲逃離社會的註記所傳達出在能指與所指之間的裂縫。同時，延異矛盾的運作方式也幫助我們進一步發現，佛斯特在描述上述三個社會習俗時，都不斷地凸顯其意義的自我銷解或否定。這樣的觀點在書中另一段對婚姻的描述裡，再次得到印證。佛斯特如此的安排，意味由此三個習俗所建構的主體，乃處在一種不斷延異的過程中，並無實存的意義或本質。而其所建構的主體性也是如此，始終在和他者無盡的關係當中，遭到分割與延異。現代社會的快速流變使佛斯特意識到，現實中的一切都不斷在變化與消逝，在出現的同時也在消失，出生的同時也是死亡，這和德希達的延異所標示的「存有(presence)無法挽回的喪失」正相呼應。生命和死亡雖然看似矛盾，實則互相指涉。佛斯特對人解構的觀點，反映出「墳墓這方的希望」所表達的解構內涵，這意味他對人際關係曖昧矛盾的處理，乃源自他解構的洞見；因為他和德希達一樣，對現實世界所潛藏的內在矛盾，都有最誠懇的回應與揭露。