多麗絲.萊辛《希卡斯塔》中的潛態宇宙觀
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2013
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在《希卡斯塔》(Shikasta)這本屬於首部「外太空」(outer-space)科幻系列的小說中,諾貝爾文學獎得主多麗斯.萊辛(Doris Lessing)意圖呈現一個存在矛盾又共生共存的混沌宇宙演化過程,她以雙重觀點(dual vision)勾勒出寓言式的兩種地球面貌,並套用烏托邦/反烏托邦的主題呈現:一方面以近距離、局部觀點描繪受個人主義的宰治的希卡斯塔/地球 (Shikasta)日趨墮落的物種與實際社會政治環境;另一方面則以殖民主星球加諾波斯(Canopus)的遠距離觀點看待希卡斯塔/地球,藉由宇宙共感與演化所構成的宇宙潛態轉變來看待希卡斯塔/地球(Shikasta)的時空變化。萊辛旨在發現一個能超越二元對立的新興烏托邦宇宙(潛態混沌宇宙)。矛盾的是,這個新興宇宙竟從一個銀河殖民的關係開始。我們該如何從殖民關係中解讀這兩種觀看希卡斯塔(地球) (Shikasta)的觀點?萊辛又如何調和兩種看似相互矛盾的關係:一個是墮落的社會政治光景,另一個是宇宙進化。殖民系統又如何啓動宇宙進化?這個二元的殖民系統又如何在內部矛盾中自我超越?特別是當萊辛呈現出殖民兩造關係時,她意圖超越當代地理政治困境而描繪出的代表宇宙進化力量的潛態烏托邦常常招來「退化」,甚至是「背叛」的評價。為了反駁這樣的誤解及替萊辛如此精妙的遠見辯解,我的論文致力於闡明這幅有著自相矛盾複雜性的動態錦織畫。
這個矛盾首先就出現在萊辛所描繪的共生殖民關係中。我的論文想琢磨的是,她如何以雙重觀點(dual vision)勾勒出一個多元共生的動態混沌宇宙。萊辛的雙重觀點(dual vision)意欲揭示能量之間的流動而不是二元對立的展演。萊辛一生投入政治活動、精神分裂議題與蘇菲主義(Sufism),她明白以單一觀點捍衛信念的徒然,因為單一觀點必陷入二元對立(dichotomy)的泥沼。這得來不易的覺醒在《希卡斯塔》(Shikasta)這部作品中於焉成型。潛態宇宙演化的達成並不在於消除實存的社會政治條件,而是如萊辛般將矛盾而分歧的社會政治元素廣納入內,呈現出其潛在多樣性。在小說中,萊辛豐富化喬荷(Johor)這位潛態的銀河使者,突變的倖存者、擴張的城市與持續演化的文檔式(archival)宇宙記憶的目的在於創造出一個持續演化的混沌宇宙。混沌宇宙中交織著相生相剋力量之間的互動:加諾波斯(Canopus)與希卡斯塔(地球) (Shikasta)之間、殖民主與被殖民者之間、遠觀與近觀之間、宇宙進化與社會政治的墮落之間、和希卡斯塔個人化而侷限於地球的內在空間與加諾波斯客觀而廣大的外太空視野之間的相互流動。
本論文將借用德勒茲對於「潛態」的看法,包括他的個體化、知感、情動 (情感)、渾沌宇宙與非個人記憶理論,旨在闡明萊辛在《希卡斯塔》(Shikasta)中藉由雙重觀點的擺盪呈現出一多元共生的潛態混沌宇宙:本文處理在潛態與實存兩端所涵蓋的身份、空間與時間種種擺盪如何激盪出一擺脫二元對立之多元共生混沌宇宙。
本論文的主體分成三個章節。核心論述的主旨,在討論當主體、空間與記憶都被加諾波斯(Canopus) 星球的宇宙殖民計劃所制約時,萊辛所企圖呈現的潛態混沌宇宙如何暫時超越各種實存的存有或政治社會框架、鬆綁主體、空間與記憶的枷鎖並重新界定了宇宙演化的軌跡。
第一章主要探討本小說主角喬荷(Johor)身為銀河系使者與其種族間矛盾的關係: 為何喬荷(Johor)能既服從又背離其隸屬殖民星球所制定的宇宙計劃,並且,他如何能穿梭在不同世界與真實的不同面向中,並居中調和鼎鼐。在論文中,我將闡明雙重觀點(dual vision)如何搖擺在潛態的宇宙演化與實存的殖民計劃之間並激盪出多樣性:這樣的擺盪呈現在潛態的殖民星球使者喬荷(Johor)與實存的喬治(George)(喬荷在地球上的化身)之間並發散成萬花筒般的多元變化。喬荷(Johor)的多重身份使得個體與帝國間的矛盾關係變得可能。作為一個宇宙潛態的代言人,喬荷(Johor)能超越實存個體的限制,揭露宇宙演化的各種可能性。
本章節將借用德勒茲關於個體化的理論來理解喬荷(Johor)如何超脫其種族的限制,並引導希卡斯塔人以及他的族人參與宇宙的進化,進而詮釋萊辛如何以潛態的宇宙能量(SOWF)修正以加諾波人(Canopeans)為中心的宇宙計劃,並藉由如此的修正,促成一場宇宙演化革命。
在第二章中,我試著探索小說中萊辛並置古老城市與浩劫後未來城市的意圖:一個是古老而僵化的殖民系統,另一個是新興直覺演化式的新設計,這兩股勢力形成一特殊雙重觀點使得潛態與實際間的共生變得可能。一個是殖民主計劃要實現的遠古幾何城市,另一個則是潛態化的浩劫後城市,萊辛試圖解釋這兩股勢力如何幫助形成在希卡斯塔(地球) (Shikasta)上倖存者與城市之間無法區辨的關係,這樣的關係使得兩者能進而與宇宙力量(SOWF)產生連結。事實上,城市與倖存者之間界線的消融有助於形成一種海納岩石、植物、猩猩、巨人、希卡斯塔人(Shikastans)、加諾波人(Canopeans)等概念的新的「我們」(We)。我將引用德勒茲(Deleuze)與瓜特里(Guattari)對於知感、情動 (情感)、渾沌宇宙的看法去理解倖存者與城市之間的微妙關係,並且藉著城市演化的觀念,闡明萊辛的潛態宇宙觀,最終揭示啟動潛態渾沌宇宙進化的關鍵元素: 全新的「我們」(We) 。
第三章旨在探討萊辛如何將兩種與記憶相關的矛盾敘述揉合。其一牽涉到詳細的心理記憶,其二則是客觀的宏觀記憶。小說中,在主角喬荷(Johor)對於記錄希卡斯塔(Shikasta)的正當性質疑後,藉著猩猩、巨人與另一宇宙能量(Lock)的幫忙,他才能夠探索並改變看似客觀的回憶,因而同時參與了宇宙記憶的演化過程。在我的論文中,德勒茲對於柏格森的記憶概念挪用有助於解讀記憶的雙重觀點:實證的個人記憶與不存於大腦的潛態記憶。以喬荷(Johor)的多重身份為例,藉由不同的化身與綿延的潛態生命,喬荷(Johor)以暫時性顛覆時間限制的手段介入宇宙記憶的文檔母體,使他得以與共存的過往宇宙記憶互動,並進而參與了潛態渾沌宇宙的演化過程。
Doris Lessing’s first outer-space novel, Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta, depicts a paradoxical, symbiotic chaosmos of cosmic evolution. With dual vision, she paints allegorical pictures of Earth from two perspectives. One is the “short, partial views” of Shikasta’s (Earth’s) actual degenerating beings and socio-political milieu, dominated by individualism. The other, seen from the colonizing planet Canopus, is the “long view” of Shikasta’s (Earth’s) virtual transformation via cosmic symbiosis and evolution. Lessing purports to discover a new utopian cosmos that transcends discrete identities and dichotomies and thus evolve. Paradoxically, this new cosmos develops from a galactic colonial relationship. If Lessing envisions a world apart from socio-political conditioning, why does she portray the galactic Empire of Canopus, and, ironically, make it responsible for cosmic evolution? How do we decode the dual vision of Earth rendered through this colonial relationship? How can/does Lessing reconcile the two seemingly contradictory strands: one, the degenerating socio-political condition, the other, cosmic evolution. Her departure from the contemporary dilemma of geopolitics through delineation of a virtual utopia of cosmic evolution is often criticized as regressive and even treacherous, especially since she renders a colonial relationship. In defense of the cunning visionary, my dissertation explains the paradoxical, yet symbiotic colonial relationship as a dual vision, which comprises much of Shikasta’s visionary complexity and supports Lessing’s philosophy of a dynamic cosmos. Her two contradictory but complementary perspectives, represented by that between utopian Canopus and dystopian Shikasta, reveal, not a display of fixed dichotomous identities or concepts, but a vast symbiotic transaction of manifold dichotomous forces—all in unceasing states of becoming-one another. Lessing’s dual vision becomes a kaleidoscopic vision of multiplicity. Lessing’s lifelong passionate involvements, successively, in political affairs, schizophrenia, and Sufism push her to realize the futility of fighting for any belief from only one perspective—because discrete identities and conflicting dichotomies remain. This hard-won awareness crystalizes in Shikasta. Virtual cosmic evolution is accomplished, not because of the elimination of actual socio-political embeddedness, but because of Lessing’s incorporation of imcompossible, divergent socio-political elements. In depicting the virtual galactic messenger (Johor), the mutating Survivors, the expanding cities, and the evolving archival cosmic memory, Lessing creates an evolving chaosmos that turns the dichotomy into a multiplicity and the potential of a reciprocal cross-fertilization between utopian Canopus and dystopian Shikasta, between the colonizer and the colonized, between the long view and the partial view, between cosmic evolution and socio-political embeddedness, between Shikastans’ personal, earthbound, inner space vision and Canopus’s impersonal, cosmic, outer-space vision. Deleuze’s theory of the virtual, which includes his ideas of individuation, becoming, percept, affect, chaosmos, and memory, helps explain the emergence of a virtual chaosmos, triggered by Lessing’s two contradictory perspectives, utopian Canopus and dystopian Shikasta. In Shikasta, the two perspectives are revealed as the virtual and the actual regarding identity, space, and time and illuminate how the utopian/dystopian cosmos can be transformed into a chaosmos of multiplicity, where the infinite speed and recomposition replace the per-established harmony. In Chapter One, I examine how Johor can simultaneously follow and precede the cosmic Master Plan set up for the functioning of the Empire of Canopus. The conflict between the utopian aspiration of Canopus and the dystopian degeneration of Shikasta is revealed through Johor’s oscillation between the actual cosmic plan and virtual cosmic forces (the Lock and SOWF) as well as between the actual manifestation of Johor as George Sherban, conditioned by the geopolitical situation and Johor, who tilts toward the virtual because of his connection with the virtual cosmic forces so that he can revise the cosmic plan and thereby trigger cosmic evolution. Through Johor’s multiple identities, the paradoxical relationship between the individual and the empire can be manifested and the emergence of a virtual chaosmos is made possible. Deleuze’s theory of individuation informs my explanation of Johor’s contribution to the chaosmos of cosmic evolution. My Chapter Two explores Lessing’s juxtaposition of the ancient dystopian cities and the future post-catastrophic utopian cities, of old static colonial design and of new intuitive evolutionary design. Her dual vision makes possible virtual symbiosis of the two forces, not in spite of, but because the link to the cosmic force is always interrupted by conditioning of colonial, geopolitical “realities.” The two forces, the actualization of the ancient geometric cities via the colonial Master Plan and the virtualization of the post-catastrophic cities, help form an indiscernible relationship between the Survivors and the cities. The dissolving of boundaries between the cities and the Survivors facilitates the formation of a new virtual “we” that encompasses different beings such as stones, plants, apes, Giants, Shikastans, and even Canopeans and trigger the emergence of a virtual chaosmos of multiplicity. Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of percept, affect, and chaosmos help explain the imperceptible relationship between the Survivors and the cities, highlight the divergences of the evolving cities, illuminate Lessing’s turning the dual vision into a multiplicity, and reveal the formation of a new virtual “we,” a key element of the virtual chaosmos of symbiotic evolution. My Chapter Three examines Lessing’s creation and conjoining of two contradictory narratives regarding memory. One involves detailed, psychological memory, and the other, impersonal, macroscopic memory. After Johor is skeptical of the legitimacy of his personal records of Shikasta, he, aided by the ape, the Giants, and the cosmic force Lock, is able to explore and even transform impersonal memory, thus symbiotically revising cosmic evolution. Deleuze’s appropriation of the Bergsonian concept of memory aids in decoding the dual vision of memory: the empirical, personal memory and the ontological memory that preserves itself elsewhere than the brain. The “virtual” Johor provisionally subverts temporal limitations so as to facilitate intervention into the Archival cosmic memory matrix, where the virtual co-existence of the cosmos’ past allows him to interact with the cosmic memory. His intervention in the cosmic memory through his multiple reincarnations and long virtual life helps generate the virtual chaosmos of multiplicity.
Doris Lessing’s first outer-space novel, Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta, depicts a paradoxical, symbiotic chaosmos of cosmic evolution. With dual vision, she paints allegorical pictures of Earth from two perspectives. One is the “short, partial views” of Shikasta’s (Earth’s) actual degenerating beings and socio-political milieu, dominated by individualism. The other, seen from the colonizing planet Canopus, is the “long view” of Shikasta’s (Earth’s) virtual transformation via cosmic symbiosis and evolution. Lessing purports to discover a new utopian cosmos that transcends discrete identities and dichotomies and thus evolve. Paradoxically, this new cosmos develops from a galactic colonial relationship. If Lessing envisions a world apart from socio-political conditioning, why does she portray the galactic Empire of Canopus, and, ironically, make it responsible for cosmic evolution? How do we decode the dual vision of Earth rendered through this colonial relationship? How can/does Lessing reconcile the two seemingly contradictory strands: one, the degenerating socio-political condition, the other, cosmic evolution. Her departure from the contemporary dilemma of geopolitics through delineation of a virtual utopia of cosmic evolution is often criticized as regressive and even treacherous, especially since she renders a colonial relationship. In defense of the cunning visionary, my dissertation explains the paradoxical, yet symbiotic colonial relationship as a dual vision, which comprises much of Shikasta’s visionary complexity and supports Lessing’s philosophy of a dynamic cosmos. Her two contradictory but complementary perspectives, represented by that between utopian Canopus and dystopian Shikasta, reveal, not a display of fixed dichotomous identities or concepts, but a vast symbiotic transaction of manifold dichotomous forces—all in unceasing states of becoming-one another. Lessing’s dual vision becomes a kaleidoscopic vision of multiplicity. Lessing’s lifelong passionate involvements, successively, in political affairs, schizophrenia, and Sufism push her to realize the futility of fighting for any belief from only one perspective—because discrete identities and conflicting dichotomies remain. This hard-won awareness crystalizes in Shikasta. Virtual cosmic evolution is accomplished, not because of the elimination of actual socio-political embeddedness, but because of Lessing’s incorporation of imcompossible, divergent socio-political elements. In depicting the virtual galactic messenger (Johor), the mutating Survivors, the expanding cities, and the evolving archival cosmic memory, Lessing creates an evolving chaosmos that turns the dichotomy into a multiplicity and the potential of a reciprocal cross-fertilization between utopian Canopus and dystopian Shikasta, between the colonizer and the colonized, between the long view and the partial view, between cosmic evolution and socio-political embeddedness, between Shikastans’ personal, earthbound, inner space vision and Canopus’s impersonal, cosmic, outer-space vision. Deleuze’s theory of the virtual, which includes his ideas of individuation, becoming, percept, affect, chaosmos, and memory, helps explain the emergence of a virtual chaosmos, triggered by Lessing’s two contradictory perspectives, utopian Canopus and dystopian Shikasta. In Shikasta, the two perspectives are revealed as the virtual and the actual regarding identity, space, and time and illuminate how the utopian/dystopian cosmos can be transformed into a chaosmos of multiplicity, where the infinite speed and recomposition replace the per-established harmony. In Chapter One, I examine how Johor can simultaneously follow and precede the cosmic Master Plan set up for the functioning of the Empire of Canopus. The conflict between the utopian aspiration of Canopus and the dystopian degeneration of Shikasta is revealed through Johor’s oscillation between the actual cosmic plan and virtual cosmic forces (the Lock and SOWF) as well as between the actual manifestation of Johor as George Sherban, conditioned by the geopolitical situation and Johor, who tilts toward the virtual because of his connection with the virtual cosmic forces so that he can revise the cosmic plan and thereby trigger cosmic evolution. Through Johor’s multiple identities, the paradoxical relationship between the individual and the empire can be manifested and the emergence of a virtual chaosmos is made possible. Deleuze’s theory of individuation informs my explanation of Johor’s contribution to the chaosmos of cosmic evolution. My Chapter Two explores Lessing’s juxtaposition of the ancient dystopian cities and the future post-catastrophic utopian cities, of old static colonial design and of new intuitive evolutionary design. Her dual vision makes possible virtual symbiosis of the two forces, not in spite of, but because the link to the cosmic force is always interrupted by conditioning of colonial, geopolitical “realities.” The two forces, the actualization of the ancient geometric cities via the colonial Master Plan and the virtualization of the post-catastrophic cities, help form an indiscernible relationship between the Survivors and the cities. The dissolving of boundaries between the cities and the Survivors facilitates the formation of a new virtual “we” that encompasses different beings such as stones, plants, apes, Giants, Shikastans, and even Canopeans and trigger the emergence of a virtual chaosmos of multiplicity. Deleuze and Guattari’s concepts of percept, affect, and chaosmos help explain the imperceptible relationship between the Survivors and the cities, highlight the divergences of the evolving cities, illuminate Lessing’s turning the dual vision into a multiplicity, and reveal the formation of a new virtual “we,” a key element of the virtual chaosmos of symbiotic evolution. My Chapter Three examines Lessing’s creation and conjoining of two contradictory narratives regarding memory. One involves detailed, psychological memory, and the other, impersonal, macroscopic memory. After Johor is skeptical of the legitimacy of his personal records of Shikasta, he, aided by the ape, the Giants, and the cosmic force Lock, is able to explore and even transform impersonal memory, thus symbiotically revising cosmic evolution. Deleuze’s appropriation of the Bergsonian concept of memory aids in decoding the dual vision of memory: the empirical, personal memory and the ontological memory that preserves itself elsewhere than the brain. The “virtual” Johor provisionally subverts temporal limitations so as to facilitate intervention into the Archival cosmic memory matrix, where the virtual co-existence of the cosmos’ past allows him to interact with the cosmic memory. His intervention in the cosmic memory through his multiple reincarnations and long virtual life helps generate the virtual chaosmos of multiplicity.
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萊辛, 德勒茲, 潛態混沌宇宙, 宇宙演化, Lessing, Deleuze, virtual Chaosmos, cosmic evolution