以身立地：彰化縣台西村高齡者人地關係的形構與轉化

本研究以彰化縣台西村的高齡者作為研究對象，藉其身體老化經驗，考察身體與自我／社群認同的關聯，及身體實踐過程中所形構而成的人土關係。身體不僅是這群高齡者的勞動之源，更是他們組構日常的基礎。老化因此牽涉到了他們的自我評價及道德期許、整體生活模式的重組與安排，往往需經複雜的調適過程。本文採納敘事分析與田野觀察法，首先爬梳高齡者個體經驗老化的重要面向——身體、勞動與環境污染，分析他們以「沒路用」進行評價的原因與生成機制，並藉由高齡者的家庭與住居關係及移動經驗爬梳，理解高齡者在社群網絡中的調適策略。本文以為，老化經驗突出了農村高齡者的身體化認同（embodied identity）。根基於長年的身體慣習與知識技術養成，台西村的高齡者們逐漸發展出以身體覺察／認識世界、與環境互動、並且以之建立人我社群關係的方式。移動性、照護系統及工程技術所導引的環境變遷，則是影響本地人地關係運作的重要機制，使高齡者因差異條件而分化出各式各樣的應對策略。另一方面，勞動生活的減退，導致生活中社交與情感面的重要性增加。人地關係於焉開展出多元意義，突顯出地方作為社交場所及地方認同的內涵，原先主為謀求生存資源的場址，漸漸轉變為生活棲居之所在。而當代高齡者與子代、外籍看護、運動外來者等人的互動關係，則突出了地方上「局內人」與「局外人」的曖昧性質，並衍伸為多元的人地關係詮釋。台西村居民長久處於多重的社會劣勢，其邊緣屬性應獲重視。然而，本研究強調，高齡者之生命經驗並非「抗老」、「退縮」等刻板印象的展現，亦非「一生懸命」、「故土難離」的浪漫鄉村敘事，而是積極有之、消極有之，在有限的資源與身體條件下，不斷調整、與身周環境謀求協合的「向死而生」。「以身立地」的高齡者，因「身」開展了世界，建造了地方；亦在老化的過程裡，因「身」之調適，而變動了與「地」的關係。在人地關係不斷辯證的動態中，「老化」因此是複雜的社會性與環境的調適。

關鍵字

高齡者；老化；人地關係；身體化認同；地方感

並列摘要

This research focused on the elderly at Taishi Village, Changhua County. By exploring their aging experiences, the author investigated the connection between body and self/ community identity, as well as the interaction between human beings and place through body practicing. From the author’s observation, body is not only the root of labours but also the foundation for the elderly to establish everyday lives. Regarding that the aging process referred to their self-valuations, moral expectations, and the reconstruction of their life pictures, complicated adjustments are required for the elderly. Narrative analysis and immersion fieldwork are adopted. To begin with, physiological changes, physical labours, and pollution-sensing experiences were several facets chosen to explore individual aging experiences. Then after, their family relationships and mobility issues were analyzed. Overall, it is salient that aging experience highlights the embodied identity of rural elderly. Mobility, the care system, and the environmental changes associated with engineering technology are several mechanisms that affect human-place relationship, which enables the elderly to develop various strategies according to their different conditions. After entering old age, the decline of physical labours led to the increasing attention of social and emotional aspects in their lives. The human-place relationship has grown into multiple forms, emphasizing the connotation of place as a social “locale” as well as the sense of place. Thereby, the place for survival gradually transformed into the place for habitation. Also, their interactions with descendants, foreign caretakers, and the environmentalists have brought the contentious definition of “insider/ outsider” to light. Residents in Taishi Village have been at multiple social disadvantaged positions for a long time that their peripheral situations could not be emphasized too much. However, this research stressed that the life experience of the elderly is neither “wrestling against aging” and “flinching” as stereotype has shown, nor the romantic rural narrative of describing them as if “working with utmost effort for the whole life” and “hard to leave the homeland”. In contrast, it was found that under limited resources and health conditions, positive and pessimistic thoughts of the elderly took turns coming out, and the spirit of “living toward death” became the drive for them to adapt to their surroundings. Via body practices the elderly shaped their surroundings and constructed their place. As they grew old, they were continuously accommodating changes in health conditions and adapting to the dynamic human-place relationship.