一位華人長子宿命的傳承與轉化

The Inheritance and Transformation of one Traditional Chinese Eldest son

陳奕樺(I-Hua Chen)

《耕莘學報》 7期 (2009/06) Pp. 117-130

https://doi.org/10.29855/JCTCN.200906.0011

摘要

在華人悠久的傳統中，長子，是相當獨特的文化產物。背負著家族榮耀及傳統孝道的包袱，長子在華人社會中形成特有的風貌。傳統長子恪守孝道，並且以家族興衰為己任，而在家族的責任下，並不允許有太多的自主意識在其中。然而，隨著時代的改變，傳統的長子亦產生不同於以往的面貌，本文即從一位敘事者的生命經驗為分析文本，探討長子文化的傳承與轉化，期望能從中描繪傳統長子於現代社會中的形象。從敘事者的敘述過程中，結果發現理想中的長子仍把家庭和諧當作自己生命的職責，並視此為成就自己的榮耀。另一方面，傳統孝道充滿威權的父子互動結構，在敘事者的身上亦可看到逐漸在消融中，身為長子的敘事者在與自己父、母親的互動上雖仍維持傳統的嚴肅、較少情感交流的氣氛，然而對於自己的子女，其卻能較坦白地說出心裡的想法，展現與傳統長子的不同。此外，敘事者在婚姻對象的選擇與家庭紛爭的處理上，皆擺脫了家庭對自己意志的束縛，在行為上展現自己的主體性。總結而言，身為新時代長子的敘事者，在自我與家庭之間的確找到了最適當的共存模式，擺脫傳統長子不見自我的悲劇性，而能更自在地適應於現代社會。

關鍵字

長子 ； 孝道

並列摘要

Bearing the whole family and filial piety, the eldest sons in the traditional Chinese culture are unique from other cultures. That is the traditional eldest sons obey filial piety and take family as their responsibility. In that kind of situation, it is not permitted the eldest sons having the personal free-well. However, times go by, and the eldest sons are also changing now. This study is to describe the images of traditional eldest sons in today's society. This research employs narrative analysis with one eldest son. The result reveals the narrator treats keeping the family harmonious as the honor for his life responsibility. On the other hand, because of the narrator sharing his feeling with his children, he transforms the serious ambiance of interaction between fathers and sons into more open. Besides, from marriage selection and the arrangement of family conflicts, we can see the narrator shows more personal well beyond the control of the family. In conclusion, as the new eldest son, the narrator does find the best balance between the family and himself, so he can live more comfortably in today's society.

並列關鍵字

eldest son ； filial piety