過往的幽靈：翁達傑《身著獅皮》與《分離》裡的記憶製圖以及解域社群

The Ghost of the Past: On Memory Mapping and Deterritorialized Community in Michael Ondaatje’s In the Skin of a Lion and Divisadero

吳凱書(Kai-Su WU)

《英美文學評論》 30期 (2017/06) Pp. 51-74

https://doi.org/10.6711/REAL.201706_(30).0003

摘要

斯里蘭卡裔的加拿大小說家翁達傑的回憶錄、小說與詩歌幾乎體現了後現代書寫的「典律」：觀點的來回跳接、互文性的應用、紀實與虛構的揉合，以及斷裂與拼圖般的敘事手法等。然而，在翁達傑藉由後現代特有的敘述模式挑戰宏大歷史巨獸並強調開放的國家疆界之同時，他亦試圖尋求人類群體的聯繫。這似乎讓翁達傑碎片般的去中心敘述「形式」與書中角色尋求世界主義式的連結之「內容」，出現了隔閡。本文透過《身著獅皮》與《分離》指出，此般形式與內容的扞格正說明了翁達傑欲在諸如勞資雙方鬥爭與家庭暴力所充斥的環境中，書寫出「解域社群」(deterritorialized community)的弔詭。對於翁達傑來說，在上述的不安環境之中，整全的社群平台已不可得，唯有「去畛域化」的概念以及書寫模式能夠描繪在游移的(回憶)空間裡找尋心靈慰藉與救贖的小說角色們。翁達傑於《身著獅皮》與《分離》中，藉由書中主角的記憶往返，繪製出尋覓此般社群的過程。在《身著獅皮》裡，從鄉村到城市的派崔克．路易斯(Patrick Lewis)參與了多倫多市的建設，也透過拼湊的記憶見證了該市發展之下所犧牲的移工微史(microhistory)，並最終認同了該社群。而《分離》一書則主要透過安娜(Anna)縈繞的創傷記憶講述多段被暴力所撕毀的人生。試圖逃離創傷苦難的安娜，選擇了遠赴他鄉以研究一位已故作家，卻發現後者的人生竟與自己的人生多所交織，這樣的跨時空交流反倒提供了她處理創傷的契機。無論是派崔克或是安娜，過往都是兩人以及其他角色無法逃避的幽靈。透過分析該小說中擬仿記憶的敘述模式，讀者或許能更加融入翁達傑所建構的人文地理學以及它與過往之間的連結。

關鍵字

記憶製圖 ； 解域社群 ； 移工 ； 創傷 ； 後現代敘述模式

並列摘要

The memoir, novels and poetry of the Sri Lankan-born Canadian writer Michael Ondaatje embody the canonical rules of postmodern writing: the pastiche of perspectives in constant shifts, the application of intertextuality, the hybridity of fact and fiction, and the use of fragmentary narrative. However, while Ondaatje employs postmodern narrative mode as a means to challenge the monstrosity of totalitarian history and lays his stress upon the porousness of national borders, he seeks for the solidarity of humans as well. In other words, Ondaatje sets his fragmentary narrative ＂form＂ in contrast with the ＂content’ of his works, in which his characters establish their cosmopolitan linkage under his de-centering ways of writing. Taking In the Skin of a Lion and Divisadero as examples, this paper argues that the standoff of form and content in Ondaatje’s novels conveys his paradoxical idea of what I call ＂deterritorialized community＂: it is out of the question for one to envision an integrated human community in clash- and violence-laden society; writing deterritorialization turns out to be the only way the author is able to delineate his characters with troubled memories, who are desperate for the consolation and redemption of their souls in their differentiated mnemonic space. In these two novels, Ondaatje presents how his protagonists search for this type of community by way of following their memory’s track. In In the Skin of a Lion, Patrick Lewis becomes one hand of the great Torontonian construction. During his time in the city, Patrick, with his montage-like memory, witnesses the sacrifice of the microhistory of migrant workers under the development of Toronto, and chooses to identify with the community of the oppressed. Divisadero, on the other hand, focuses upon Anna’s alternative processing of her haunting traumatic memory that is related to several ruined lives. Anna, who attempts to flee from her traumatic torture, goes abroad to immerse herself in the research of a deceased author, and discovers that the latter’s life is irrevocably linked with her own. Such dialogue beyond temporal-spatial bondage provides her with chances in which traumatic events can be dealt with. In both novels, the past is like unavoidable ghost for Patrick and Anna. We readers may feel bonded with Ondaatje’s human geography and its correspondence with the ghost of the past if we have a firm grasp of his memory-simulating narrative mode.

並列關鍵字

memory mapping ； deterritorialized community ； migrant workers ； trauma ； postmodern narrative mode

參考文獻

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