Consuming Tibet: Imperial Romance and the Wretched of the Holy Plateau

數百年來，西藏一直被西方奇觀化，構想成一個神秘而充滿無窮魅力之地。正如愛德華‧賽義德批判「東方幾乎是歐洲的發明」一樣，西藏其實也是西方帝國主義的視覺虛擬化和敘述浪漫化。文章選擇了詹姆斯‧希爾頓的《消失的地平線》以及後來的好萊塢電影改編，試圖從景觀視覺構成的角度去窺破西方帝國如何編織西藏為「世外桃源」的隱形密碼。文章引用了一些有關後殖民，種族／民族的論述，探討了景觀構造與權力的糾纏，剖析了從海景到山景演變的浪漫景觀美學，重新審視了這種文化想像中所注入的生物權力的問題。文章認為，西方對西藏為「香格里拉」的極端迷戀並不反映西藏本身的令人不安的現實，而是西方帝國自身的身份及文化危機。文章結論認為，西方帝國的環遊世界觀不僅異化了西藏的自然景觀，而且鏤空了西藏文化及宗教的真實性。

關鍵字

西藏；異托邦；景觀；權力；帝國想像；凝視；他者；奇觀化

並列摘要

This essay tries to appropriate and actualize Said's critique of Orientalism and Mitchell's conception of the ideology of the imperial landscape in an attempt to show how the fantasy of Tibet as the other was constructed by the narrative and visual technologies of imperialist ideology in the service of its own interests. The essay argues that both the mode of conquest and that of being conquered by the Tibetan landscape have misrepresented and distorted the nature of Tibet, thus actually reflecting the effect of imperialist hegemonic power over the indigenous people.Between Western imperialism and the communists, Tibet has been consumed, becoming a ”contact zone” in which contending powers and interests play against each other.

並列關鍵字

Tibet ； post-colonialism ； power and representation ； visuality and geo-politics ； landscape and Eurocentrism

參考文獻

Aide-mémoire from U.S. State Department to the British Embassy, 13 July 1942, FO371/35756. British Foreign Office Records. The National Archives of the United Kingdom (UKNA). Print.