「世界中」的臺灣酷兒文學：一個世界文學與英譯的研究

Abstract

本論文詳盡梳理了一九九〇年代的經典臺灣同志（酷兒）小說，如何透過英譯本的新近出版與流通，在非華語世界（尤指說英語的西方世界）獲得文學生命的延續與再脈絡化。一九八七年政府宣布解嚴以來，原本保守單調的臺灣社會快速蛻變成多元且活力十足的民主政體，急切渴望西方「先進」文明的「現代性」洗禮，包括創新的破壞性思維、時髦的文學理論、前衛的性別意識形態等，不一而足。受美國八〇年代新樣態同性戀文學的啟迪，臺灣文壇誕生了具本地特色的後現代「同志文學」。本論文援引歌德的世界文學觀與美國學者達姆羅什關於世界文學與世界主義的論述，以「世界中的臺灣酷兒文學」為主題，結合質性文本分析與客觀數據統計，從當代世界文學的視角出發，全方位考察英譯臺灣酷兒文學如何以達氏跨越文化疆界的「閱讀」及「流通」模式，成為世界文學版圖的一員。研究文本包含朱天文的男同志小說《荒人手記》、邱妙津的女同志邪典《鱷魚手記》和《蒙馬特遺書》，以及紀大偉的跨性別科幻傑作《膜》，皆為臺灣及華語文化圈同志文學歷久彌新的一時之選。研究發現，「臺灣產製酷兒性」順應全球商品化的世界文學潮流成功對外輸出，主要推動力除了水準上乘的英譯本外，尚有內、外部多項支撐要素，包括作者的文學聲望與影響力、重量級世界文學網站與國際媒體的引介與評述、臺灣政府的堅定支持與贊助、英譯者與其他國際學者不遺餘力的宣傳等。最關鍵的是，作品本身獨樹一幟的在地酷兒文學魅力―正是這種難以取代的他異性，推升臺灣酷兒小說有機會登上世界文學的殿堂。

This dissertation critically examines the afterlife extension and recontextualization of anglicized Taiwanese queer fiction produced in the vibrant 1990s. The monumental lifting of Martial Law in 1987 marked the heteroglossic new Taiwan open to state-of-the-art ideas, avant-garde theories/ideologies, and literary makeovers under the “modernity” influence of Western intellectualism, aiding the emergence of Taiwanized tongzhi wenxue (a localized genre inspired by American gay and lesbian literature). Drawing on Goethe’s Weltliteratur concept and Damrosch’s scholarly articulations regarding world literature and cosmopolitanism, I have conducted a descriptive study that quantitatively and qualitatively explores how the “Queer Taiwan” has been “worlded” through English translation to become part of world literature in Damrosch’s reading and circulational modes. By analyzing the genderqueer issues central to four English-rendered Taiwanese queer-themed cult novels, namely Chu T’ien-wen’s Notes of a Desolate Man, Qiu Miaojin’s Notes of a Crocodile and Last Words from Montmartre, as well as Chi Ta-wei’s transgender science fiction The Membranes, I contribute a thorough investigation of their being translated, circulated, studied, and critiqued from the world-literature perspective. The key findings indicate that there exist a few internal/external factors that have benefited the globalized commodification of Taiwan-made queerness, including the authors’ literary prestige, the translators’ decent transcodification, the Taiwanese government’s long-term patronage, and most important of all, the focal works’ irreplaceable queer charm―a distinctive literary alterity making Taiwanese queer fiction “worldly.”