從個人失落到集體憂鬱：莎拉・肯恩《4.48 精神崩潰》絕望之中的希望

Abstract

當代英國劇作家莎拉・肯恩（Sarah Kane）的遺作《4.48精神崩潰》透過詩意且坦白的語言、破碎的結構以及非線性的時間，捕捉了主角憂鬱症時支離破碎的內心世界。作者在劇本完成不久後便自殺，因此評論常以此作品解釋作者的生命經驗。儘管這種自傳式的詮釋在所難免，本論文主張《4.48精神崩潰》超越了個人敘事的層次，將「憂鬱」建構為一種跨越讀者與觀眾的集體情感經驗。本研究旨在探討肯恩如何在這部充滿絕望的作品中傳遞希望，以及如此私人的創作為何能對廣泛的觀眾產生強烈共鳴。運用西格蒙德・佛洛伊德（Sigmund Freud）與茱莉亞・克莉斯蒂娃（Julia Kristeva）對憂鬱的理論，指出劇中的失落，來自「他者」的缺席以及身心瓦解。透過分析劇本與戲劇演出評論，本論文探討劇本與其舞台演出如何使觀眾與讀者共同體會一種集體的憂鬱狀態，並進而對現代精神醫學對心理疾病的處置提出質疑。

進一步結合肯恩對「瘋／正常」的觀點與喬納森・佛萊利（Jonathan Flatley）「情感結構」（affective mapping）理論，本研究分析劇中如何顛覆瘋癲的定義，以及舞台演出如何創造出集體的情感共鳴。透過分析肯恩的訪談、演工作人員的訪談、結局安排與戲劇評論，本文指出希望正是從喪失與憂鬱的深淵中悖論式地浮現出來。《4.48精神崩潰》不僅勾勒出心理疾病者的內心景象，也描繪出人們得以撫平個人創傷的情感空間。作品本身及一再推出的演出製作重構心理健康的想像，也延續了莎拉・肯恩的書寫與存在。

The British playwright Sarah Kane's final play, 4.48 Psychosis, captures the fractured inner world of a depressed protagonist through poetic, confessional language, fragmented form, and a non-linear timeline. Written shortly before Kane's suicide, the play is frequently read through an autobiographical lens. While such readings are inevitable, this thesis argues that 4.48 Psychosis transcends personal narrative by constructing melancholia as a shared affective experience that resonates across readers and audiences.

This research intends to unravel how Kane conveys hope within such a despairing text, and why such a personal work has a powerful impact on a broader audience. Drawing from Sigmund Freud's and Julia Kristeva's theories of melancholia, the second chapter locates the play's central loss in the absence of the Other and the dissolution of the body/mind unity. Through close reading of the play and performance reviews, the thesis explores how 4.48 Psychosis (both the script and its theatrical productions) envelops readers and audiences in a collective experience of melancholia and compels them to challenge modern psychiatry's treatment of mental illness.

Building on Kane's view on(in)sanity and Jonathan Flatley's theory of affective mapping, I examine how Kane subverts the definition of (in)sanity in the play and how the theatrical productions generate a collective emotional experience among readers and audiences. By analyzing interviews with the playwright and staff of productions, the ending of the play, and performance reviews, this research shows how hope paradoxically emerges out of the despair of loss and melancholy. 4.48 Psychosis maps out not only the mental landscapes of the mentally ill butalso the affective space where one can mediate their personal trauma collectively. The restless efforts within and outside the work to reconceive mental health issues extend the writing and the presence of Sarah Kane.