混血/寫邊疆：歐溫斯小說《暗河》的後現代閱讀

Abstract

本論文以後現代文學角度探討北美原住民作家路易斯‧歐文斯在小說《暗河》中所關懷的混血原民議題。全文分為四部。序論回顧後現代文學理論，並探討弱勢族裔作家如何運用後現代文學的去中心特質解構殖民論述的霸權。此外，序論也檢視北美原住民文學中的後現代轉向，企圖以「原民後現代敘事」(Native American postmodern narratives)文類閱讀《暗河》。第一章討論歐文斯對混血原民屬性的展望。此章探究作者如何運用後現代戲擬(postmodern parody)策略改寫約翰‧福特的西部經典名片《搜索者》。歐文斯一方面嘲諷並批判歐美主流論述對混血原民屬性的狹隘刻板印象，一方面更進一步轉化主流論述脈絡(trans-contextualize)，重新釋放混血原民屬性的雜揉潛能。第二章則聚焦在混血原民作家的跨界書寫實踐(crosswriting)。此章析論歐文斯如何在《暗河》中挪用殖民者語言，以北美原住民口述傳統(Native American oral tradition)雜化歐美後現代文學。歐文斯藉由置放《暗河》於多元文化之間的中介位置，不僅抵抗強調中心與邊陲二元劃分的殖民論述，更肯定文化不斷流變與相互溝通的重要。結論重申本文論點，並以《暗河》展演維茲諾所言的「文化抗存」(survivance)作結。歐文斯的《暗河》以文字想像為混血原民論述開啟新契機。

This thesis puts forward a postmodern reading of Louis Owens's Dark River (1999) to address the author's concern with Native American mixedblood discourse. The thesis consists of four parts. Introduction reviews the development of postmodern literature and examines how minority writers use postmodern literature as a tool to subvert the colonial authority. Introduction also discerns the long-lasting presence of Native American postmodern narratives in Native American literatures and attempts to read Dark River as one of the examples. Chapter One investigates Owens's envision of Native American mixedblood identity. By parodying John Ford's Searchers in Dark River, Owens on the one hand mocks and criticizes the essentialized stereotypes of “Indians” in the mainstream representations. On the other hand, he trans-contextualizes the mainstream representations and brings the hybridized potential of Native American mixedblood identity into full play. Chapter Two inquires the crosswriting of Native American mixedblood writers. In Dark River, Owens appropriates the colonizer's language and hybridizes Euramerican postmodern literature with Native American oral tradition. Placing Dark River at the transitional site of mixedblood frontiers, Owens not only disrupts the rigid boundary between the center and the margin, but also affirms the values of cultural transformation and openness. Conclusion asserts that Dark River exemplifies the cultural “survivance” in Gerald Vizenor's term. With his literary imagination in Dark River, Owens has opened up a new possibility for Native American mixedblood discourse.