The Evolution of a Feminist: A New Reading of Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji

一位女性主義者的進化：紫式部《源氏物語》新解讀

王亞倫(Allen Walzem)

《南台人文社會學報》 17期 (2017/09) Pp. 89-120

摘要

Lady Murasaki Shikibu's 11th century story, Tale of Genji, or The Genji Monogatari, has been taught in Japanese schools for generations, and is recognized as the cornerstone of the Japanese canon. It has been celebrated as a romantic adventure story, detailing the amorous pursuits of a wonderfully handsome and artistic young nobleman, Prince Genji. However, contemporary readers see the tale differently: far from a romantic hero, Genji was a predatory seducer who brought pain, suffering, and even death to most of the objects of his affection. In this paper I look at the negative impact that Genji had on those around him and demonstrate, by showing the slowly darkening attitude of the narration towards the three sets of ＂rival-buddies＂ from the three different parts of the book, that the author's own view of male privilege evolved as she was writing the book, and by the end of the tale her sympathies had completely switched from the side of the men to the side of the women whom the men victimize through their amorous pursuits. My argument is that Murasaki, to some extent, disproves Spivak's argument in ＂Can the Subaltern Speak?＂ by showing that, through the power of literary awakening, the subaltern can come to resist dominant and oppressive hegemonic authority.

關鍵字

Genji ； Japanese literature ； Subaltern ； Resistance ； hegemony ； Spivak

並列摘要

11世紀日本女作家紫式部的長篇小說《源氏物語》，是幾個世代以來，在日本學校中被用來教導學生，並且被公認是日本準則的基石。這一本著名的浪漫長篇故事，敍述著光源氏與所遇女子們之浪漫史。然而，當代的讀者，對此故事卻有著不同的解讀；他們認為光源氏不能稱為一個風流倜儻的英雄，而是為他所傾慕的人帶來痛苦，災難甚至是死亡的好色成性勾引者。在這篇論文裡，我從光源氏負面的影響力中來探討並利用三部中三組亦敵亦友的角色，來顯示作者在書中，對於故事敍述的態度由明漸至黑暗的徵象，並且，指出作者在寫作當下所延伸其對於男性特權的獨有觀點。也因如此，作者在書中最後的部份，她對於男性的同情完完全全地轉向了那些受害於情色意圖下的女性身上。而，我的論點是：作者紫式部，就某些層次而言，反駁了Spivak（斯皮瓦克）＂Can the Subaltern Speak?＂中的論點。那也就說，女性可以透過文學覺醒的力量，讓從屬階級也能反抗如此佔優勢及壓迫人的霸權當局。

並列關鍵字

源氏 ； 日本文學 ； 陸軍中尉 ； 抵抗 ； 霸權 ； 斯皮瓦克