Writing Identities: Home and Inheritance in V. S. Naipaul's (Auto-) Biographical Strategy in a House for Mr. Biswas and Derek Walcott's Inter-Generational Memory in Omeros

書寫認同：論奈波爾的自傳／傳記式身份繼承與沃爾柯特的跨世代記憶之旅

吳凱書(Kai-Shu Wu)

《NTU Studies in Language and Literature》 27期 (2012/06) Pp. 105-130

摘要

德里克．沃爾柯特（Derek Walcott）以及維迪亞德哈爾．奈波爾（V. S. Naipaul）分別於1992年與2001年接受瑞典皇家學院所頒發的諾貝爾文學獎，成為探討加勒比海文化與後殖民研究的寵兒。有趣的是，兩人的歷史觀與美學觀相去甚遠，若擲其相對分析未嘗不可。但本文試著論述，詩人與小說家在各自的文本中都傾向以書寫來建立身份認同的家，只不過兩人的房屋風格與建材質地各異奇趣。本篇論文先著手於兩位作家如何看待歷史與文學的辯證關係，這層關係將在文本分析中成顯出相。在《畢思沃斯先生的房子》（A House for Mr. Biswas），奈波爾透過傳記／自傳模式進行考古挖掘，將個人的歷史突顯出來。本文藉由對於「複加」（repetition and extension）的分析，探討奈波爾文中的父子繼承如何說明個人與世代間的歷史之相疊性。而沃爾柯特在《奧玫羅斯》（Omeros）中，藉由詩中時間的錯置揉合了過去、現在與未來。在空間上則將祖後輩並置，進行一場跨時代的認同儀式。文中並佐以愛德華．薩伊德（Edward Said）曾提及的嫡裔性（filiation）與聯繫性（affiliation）來探討兩文本的深切關聯。

關鍵字

嫡裔性／聯繫性 ； 書寫 ； 歷史 ； 繼承 ； 自傳／傳記 ； 家

並列摘要

Considered as today's prominent Caribbean writers, V. S. Naipaul and Derek Walcott have become iconic representatives of the West Indies. Although there is great disparity between the two writers' concept of politics of history, they nonetheless share similar idea in poetics of writing. In this paper I first of all sketch out the difference in their attitude towards history and its relation with art. Afterwards, the discussion of ”A House for Mr. Biswas” will involve genealogical and archaeological digging of the past and the present through Naipaul's (auto-)biological method, to observe how the novelist regards the personal as significantly linked to the collective. There follows a delving into the detail of Walcott's majestic ”Omeros”. In the analysis, we will see the conceptualization of home is constructed in the process of Walcott's handling of history by means of anachronism and transposition of the past, present and future, which is to be explicated with the poet's horizontal genealogy in his use of spatial delineation of generational encounters. The discussion of the two works will be assisted by means of readjustment of Edward Said's crucial terms: filiation and affiliation.

並列關鍵字

(af)filiation ； writing ； history ； inheritance ； (auto-)biography ； home

參考文獻

Ashcroft, Bill,Ahluwalia, Pal(1999).Edward Said: The Paradox of Identity.London:Routledge.

Baer, William(ed.)(1996).Conversations with Derek Walcott.Jackson:UP of Mississippi.

Breslin, Paul(2001).Nobody's Nation: Reading Derek Walcott.Chicago:U of Chicago.

Burnett, Paula(2000).Derek Walcott: Politics and Poetics.Gainesville:UP of Florida.

Derrida, Jacques,Dutoit, Thomas(Trans.)(1993).Aporias.California:Stanford UP.