再現愛爾蘭性：弗萊爾的《翻譯》、《溝通線》、《志願兵》
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2005
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本文試圖探討弗萊爾如何在他的三部作品《翻譯》、《溝通線》、《志願兵》中再現愛爾蘭性 (Irishness)。愛爾蘭文學史上一直永久不退的主題就是描寫愛爾蘭性，最具代表性者當推葉慈以及喬伊斯。葉慈的愛爾蘭性是在愛爾蘭民俗傳說中尋找國家英雄，而喬伊斯是離開愛爾蘭，從歐洲描寫都柏林的心理黑暗面。弗萊爾採取不同的作法，試圖表現現代愛爾蘭的後殖民時期混合 (hybridity) 狀態。這樣的混合狀態包括了愛爾蘭與英國的文化融合與衝突，兩國之間的殖民關係互動，同時也顯現在北愛爾蘭的政治不安定以及宗教文化衝突。弗萊爾試圖在他的劇本中描寫這樣的愛爾蘭，並且透過重新檢視與定義政治、語言、歷史、國家身份等議題，鼓舞愛爾蘭人民重新思考自己的歷史定位，重新定義新的愛爾蘭性。本文第一章介紹愛爾蘭文化研究的理論背景，包括政治上愛爾蘭如何試圖突破被殖民者的弱勢心理，尋找更平等的對話空間，以及文學上如何透過描寫愛爾蘭性以及定義國家身份來跳脫被殖民者心理。這些嘗試與理論都有其現實上的限制，因此愛爾蘭文化研究逐漸強調認知混合狀態的重要，期望在混合的場域中溝通對話，開發新的可能，呈獻新的愛爾蘭性。第一章同時也介紹愛爾蘭國家劇院，以及弗萊爾的背景與主要作品。第二章討論《翻譯》這部劇本中弗萊爾如何呈獻三個層面的愛爾蘭性：第一，愛爾蘭社會有政治經濟上的不安定，以及語言的逐漸過時，間接造成英國的殖民。第二，十九世紀初的愛爾蘭社會受到英國殖民的文化衝擊，造成個人、政治、語言上的混合狀態，並不單純是愛爾蘭地名遭到英國化，以及英文取代愛爾蘭文。第三，透過劇中人物，弗萊爾表達學習英文的重要性，不僅是為了生存，也是為了重新建構愛爾蘭國家身份。第三章探討《溝通線》，這部劇本修正了《翻譯》劇中一些民族主義情感，從現代愛爾蘭社會來檢視追求愛爾蘭性的迷思。劇中愛爾蘭傳統鄉村的倒塌，正代表了一味從傳統中追求愛爾蘭性是徒勞的，唯有回到現實檢視愛爾蘭的過去的現在，才能重建愛爾蘭性。同時，在語言層面上弗萊爾也檢視了溝通的本質與困難，強調訊息的傳達並無法達到真正的溝通，真正的溝通是情感與經驗的傳達，同時不同的情境也可以創造不同的可能，激發新的意義。第四章探討《志願兵》一劇中弗萊爾對愛爾蘭社會問題的描寫，包括社會階級不平等，政治壓迫，對於文化遺產的難以達成共識，以及人與人之間的冷漠。愛爾蘭解放軍的政治犯雖然志願為國家做考古工作，卻無法得到國家的公平對待，更無法見容於牢獄中的伙伴。這些志願兵透過歌唱以及嬉鬧表達了對於政治社會制度的不滿，對於過去與現在在自身文化中的犧牲者命運感到無奈，同時也在歷史、語言等議題上提出了尖銳的問題。透過重新描寫志願兵，弗萊爾重新定義了志願兵，也使得愛爾蘭人民重新檢視舊有的思想制度與價值觀，以及愛爾蘭社會本身的問題。第五章為本文做總結，重新檢視弗萊爾在三部劇中的再現愛爾蘭性策略，並且檢視尋找愛爾蘭性與國家身份的困難與限制。
This paper attempts to examine the way Friel represents Irishness in his three plays: Translations, The Communication Cord, and Volunteers. There have been attempts to search for, or establish, Irish identity in the history of Irish literature, among which those of Yeats and Joyce were the most successful. Friel, however, chooses a different approach: he does not, like Yeats, advocate searching for Irish identity in the pre-colonial, Gaelic past, and nor does he leave Ireland and look at Ireland with cold eyes, like Joyce. He wants his readers to stay in the present Ireland, face all its political and religious conflicts, and think about questions on hybridity, language, colonialization, history, and inner social problems. Reexamining these issues can help the Irish people see more clearly their past, present and future, and can hopefully help them establish a truly authentic national identity. In Chapter One I will introduce the theoretical background of Irish cultural studies, in which I will discuss different strategies of establishing Irish identity in the postcolonial time, and the limits of doing so. I will also introduce Ireland’s two major national theaters: the Abbey Theatre and the Field Day Theatre Company, which have great influence on Friel’s life and works. In Chapter two I will discuss Translations, Friel’s best known play. While most people regard the play as a threnody to the death of Gaelic, I contend that there are three aspects of Friel’s idea of Irishness: one, there were enough inner problems within the Irish society that led to the fate of colonization; two, the border between the colonizer and the colonized was blurred in the hybridized situation on all levels: individual, political, and linguistic, and three, the Irish people needed to learn English to survive in the new world. Chapter Three is on The Communication Cord, in which I will examine how Friel uses this play to counterbalance the nostalgic tones in Translations, and how the play works with Translations to present a more complete picture of Friel’s notion of Irishness. In the play the collapse of the cottage signifies the inadequacy of pursuing Irishness from reproduced images of Irish culture. At the same time, Friel loosens the relationship between the signifier and the signified in the language of the characters, and leads Tim to the discovery that what matters is not what language units have been exchanged, but context. Within different contexts are different meanings and new possibilities, and it is within the new context of Irish English that the Irish people can establish their national identity. In Chapter Four I examine how social problems are presented in Volunteers. In this play the focus is more on the inner social problems within the Irish society---the social class, the inequality, the political oppression, lack of consensus on cultural heritage, and indifference among people. While the political prisoners are victims of the whole institution, they also manage to fight the reality, though without success, with their imagination, creativity, and spirit. Friel’s volunteers use banters and songs to question the present political and social systems, and draw the connection between the present and the past, between their fate and that of the Viking skeleton Leif and Hamlet. And they find out that they are not only victims of the power distribution, but they are also casualties of language. Even though the volunteers cannot escape their doomed fate, their new image successfully subverts the traditional definition of voluntarism---which shows Friel’s desire of stimulating new possibilities from border crossing and redefining of old values. Chapter Five I put the three plays in perspective, and, besides making conclusions on Friel’s strategies in representing Irishness in his plays, recognizes the difficulty of establishing national identity in the postcolonial Ireland.
This paper attempts to examine the way Friel represents Irishness in his three plays: Translations, The Communication Cord, and Volunteers. There have been attempts to search for, or establish, Irish identity in the history of Irish literature, among which those of Yeats and Joyce were the most successful. Friel, however, chooses a different approach: he does not, like Yeats, advocate searching for Irish identity in the pre-colonial, Gaelic past, and nor does he leave Ireland and look at Ireland with cold eyes, like Joyce. He wants his readers to stay in the present Ireland, face all its political and religious conflicts, and think about questions on hybridity, language, colonialization, history, and inner social problems. Reexamining these issues can help the Irish people see more clearly their past, present and future, and can hopefully help them establish a truly authentic national identity. In Chapter One I will introduce the theoretical background of Irish cultural studies, in which I will discuss different strategies of establishing Irish identity in the postcolonial time, and the limits of doing so. I will also introduce Ireland’s two major national theaters: the Abbey Theatre and the Field Day Theatre Company, which have great influence on Friel’s life and works. In Chapter two I will discuss Translations, Friel’s best known play. While most people regard the play as a threnody to the death of Gaelic, I contend that there are three aspects of Friel’s idea of Irishness: one, there were enough inner problems within the Irish society that led to the fate of colonization; two, the border between the colonizer and the colonized was blurred in the hybridized situation on all levels: individual, political, and linguistic, and three, the Irish people needed to learn English to survive in the new world. Chapter Three is on The Communication Cord, in which I will examine how Friel uses this play to counterbalance the nostalgic tones in Translations, and how the play works with Translations to present a more complete picture of Friel’s notion of Irishness. In the play the collapse of the cottage signifies the inadequacy of pursuing Irishness from reproduced images of Irish culture. At the same time, Friel loosens the relationship between the signifier and the signified in the language of the characters, and leads Tim to the discovery that what matters is not what language units have been exchanged, but context. Within different contexts are different meanings and new possibilities, and it is within the new context of Irish English that the Irish people can establish their national identity. In Chapter Four I examine how social problems are presented in Volunteers. In this play the focus is more on the inner social problems within the Irish society---the social class, the inequality, the political oppression, lack of consensus on cultural heritage, and indifference among people. While the political prisoners are victims of the whole institution, they also manage to fight the reality, though without success, with their imagination, creativity, and spirit. Friel’s volunteers use banters and songs to question the present political and social systems, and draw the connection between the present and the past, between their fate and that of the Viking skeleton Leif and Hamlet. And they find out that they are not only victims of the power distribution, but they are also casualties of language. Even though the volunteers cannot escape their doomed fate, their new image successfully subverts the traditional definition of voluntarism---which shows Friel’s desire of stimulating new possibilities from border crossing and redefining of old values. Chapter Five I put the three plays in perspective, and, besides making conclusions on Friel’s strategies in representing Irishness in his plays, recognizes the difficulty of establishing national identity in the postcolonial Ireland.
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Keywords
愛爾蘭性, 再現, 後殖民, 翻譯, 溝通線, 志願兵, Irishness, representation, postcolonial, Translations, The Communication Cord, Volunteers