20世紀初年,英國維多利亞時代暢銷小說《林恩東鎮》(East Lynne,1861)及其衍生版本傳入日本和中國,經由當地作家的翻譯改寫,成爲廣受歡迎的連載小說、戲劇和電影。透過追蹤此文化產品的跨國行旅,筆者認爲此一故事的不同版本反映了一個全球性的潮流,此即對煽情聳動故事之文化消費。此一文化潮流的形成一方面源自印刷工業和文化產業的全球性發展,另一方面呼應了工業化和現代化進程中大眾的心理需求。藉由此一案例,本文探討了早期全球化過程中通俗文化產品的跨文化流動性。文化產品的全球流動並非僅僅形塑通常被稱之為國族的「想像的共同體」,同時在隱形的精神層面將跨越國界的人們連接起來。
This paper traces the travels of a Victorian best-selling novel entitled ”East Lynne” (1861) and its various translations as serialized novels, stage plays, and films produced in Japan and China in the early twentieth century. The author argues that all versions of the story reflected a global trend for what may be termed ”popular consumption of sensation plus sentiment.” The principle agents in the formation of this global trend in the popular spheres are to be found in the development of print capitalism and the cultural industries on the one hand, and in the public's desires for sensation and sentiment in a time of rapid social changes on the other. As such, this study presents an early example of the global flow of cultural products. It demonstrates that global flows of cultural products along with commodities and concepts not only helped shape imagined communities that were called nations, but also linked people at mental levels across national boundaries.