末日反烏托邦初探：《才幹的比喻》、《末世男女》和《長路》

Toward Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia: Parable of the Talents, Oryx and Crake and The Road

江哲蔚(Zhe-Wei Jiang)

指導教授 ： 張惠娟

國立臺灣大學/文學院/外國語文學研究所/碩士(2010年)

https://doi.org/10.6342/NTU.2010.00938

摘要

本論文試圖探究千禧年之交出現的新文類—末日反烏托邦。此一新文類和以往古典反烏托邦與批判式反烏托邦有顯著歧異。末日反烏托邦對末世景象之著重，已對作品中烏托邦與反烏托邦之層面造成衝擊，並引出作品裡末世、烏托邦，與反烏托邦成份之活潑互動。本論文探討三部具代表性之作品，以呈現末日反烏托邦之不同面向：奧妲維亞•巴特勒之《才幹的比喻》(1998)、瑪格麗特•愛特伍之《末世男女》(2003)和戈馬克•麥卡錫之《長路》(2006)。在 《才幹的比喻》中，巴特勒對於問題與解決之道等相關議題的探討，幫助她察覺批判式烏托邦之侷限並走出此一模式。於《末世男女》中，瑪格麗特•愛特伍推斷演繹當今全球風險，並將之翻譯成主角雪人對於小說中虛構災難之回憶。在《長路》中，即使戈馬克•麥卡錫描繪了一個充滿虛無的末日地景，他仍試圖強調文化與藝術之烏托邦功能。末日反烏托邦的出現，實質上反映了作家對各色全球風險之擔憂。藉由末世景象的呈現，末日反烏托邦試圖喚醒人們對於全球風險之警覺意識，並進而促使人們及時採取行動以避免災難發生。

關鍵字

末日反烏托邦 ； 烏托邦 ； 反烏托邦 ； 末日 ； 奧妲維亞•巴特勒瑪格麗特•愛特伍 ； 戈馬克•麥卡錫

並列摘要

This thesis ventures to propose a new genre around the turn of the new millennium—post-apocalyptic dystopia—which differs from classical and critical dystopia in the past. The new dystopia is distinguished by its special emphasis on the post-apocalyptic, which has impact on the dystopian and utopian dimensions of the text and brings up vital dynamics among apocalyptic, utopian and dystopian elements within the work. This thesis chooses three representative works to present different aspects of post-apocalyptic dystopia: Octavia Butler’s Parable of the Talents (1998), Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake (2003) and Cormac McCarthy’s The Road (2006). In Parable of the Talents, Octavia Butler’s investigation of the issue of problem and solution opens up a trajectory that helps her recognize the limitation of critical dystopia and depart from it. In Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood extrapolates contemporary global risk and translates it into fictional catastrophes in Snowman’s memories. Last but not least, Cormac McCarthy in The Road seeks to reassert the utopian function of art and culture even in the culture-less and meaningless post-apocalyptic landscape. The emergence of post-apocalyptic dystopia in fact reflects writers’ anxiety about all sorts of looming global risk. By pinpointing the worst apocalyptic scenario for the readers, writers of post-apocalyptic dystopia seek to raise people’s awareness about the emergency of the global risk and convey a hope that the risk, once portrayed, can be avoided if readers take action in advance.

並列關鍵字

Post-Apocalyptic Dystopia ； Utopia ； Dystopia ； Apocalypse ； Octavia Butler ； Margaret Atwood ； Cormac McCarthy

參考文獻

Anderson, William S., ed. Ovid’s Metamorphoses: Books 1-5. Norman: U of Oklahoma P, 1997. Print.

Atwood, Margaret. The Door. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2007. Print.

---. Oryx and Crake. 2003. New York: Anchor, 2004. Print.

---. “’A Useful Knowledge of the Present Is Rooted in the Past’: Memory and Historical Reconciliation in Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Telling.” Dark Horizon: Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination. Eds. Raffaella Baccolini and Tom Moylan. New York: Routledge, 2003. 113-34. Print.

Baccolini, Raffaella and Tom Moylan. “Introduction: Dystopia and Histories.” Dark Horizon: Science Fiction and the Dystopian Imagination. Eds. Raffaella Baccolini and Tom Moylan. New York: Routledge, 2003. 1-12. Print.