透過主角兼敘事者奧芙弗雷德 (Offred) 的信件書寫，愛特伍 (Margaret Atwood)《使女故事》(The Handmaid's Tale, 1986) 一書回憶並訴說過往的故事。奧芙弗雷德的敘事打破順時性，呈現了斷裂與曖昧難解的狀況，點出了敘事者對於其所訴說的過去缺乏完整的理解。本論文從創傷敘事的角度分析《使女故事》，試圖探究奧芙弗雷德敘事中缺乏連貫的起因。 本論文分成五章來探討奧芙弗雷德的敘事，以期完整呈現小說中創傷敘事與語言、書信模式所交織成的複雜關係。第一章介紹《使女故事》的梗概與相關評論，並說明本論文所使用的理論架構。第二章以傅柯 (Michel Foucault) 的語言理論，探討語言與權力統治的關係與其在「反烏托邦」(dystopia) 世界中所承擔的角色，進而分析奧芙弗雷德如何一步步地取回了原本被禁用的語言，透過敘事釋放潛藏的溝通慾望。第三章則透過佛洛伊德 (Sigmund Freud) 的創傷理論與後續發展的創傷敘事研究，檢視奧芙弗雷德令人困惑的敘事。第四章藉由巴赫汀 (Mikhail Bakhtin) 的對話論 (dialogism) 分析書信模式在奧芙弗雷德敘事 (narration)／重構 (reconstruction) 中的影響與作用。最後，第五章討論愛特伍在文本末章〈史料〉("Historical Notes") 呈現對書信編輯一角的翻轉，並點出奧芙弗雷德對於敘事的堅持來自於她對於溝通與生存的期望。 / Through the narrator-protagonist Offred's letter-composition, Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid’s Tale (1986) unfolds as Offred recalls her past to tell the story. Offred's narrative is not chronological, but elusive and fragmentary. The scattered narrative fragments indicate Offred's incomplete understanding of the past. The present thesis seeks to explore the intricate cause of Offred’s narrative fragments by reading The Handmaid's Tale as a trauma narrative. To gain a full picture of Offred's trauma narrative, the thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter I introduces The Handmaid's Tale and its literature reviews and explicates the theoretical approaches used in the thesis. With the introduction of Foucauldian discourse on language, Chapter II focuses on the role of language in relation to power in dystopia. In addition, the chapter illustrates the process of Offred's gradual regaining of the denied language and embarking on her narrative expedition, seeking to communicate. Meanwhile, Chapter III focuses on Offred’s puzzle-like narrative, inspecting her narrative through the lens of the Freudian trauma theory and trauma narrative. Chapter IV analyzes the function of the epistolary form in Offred's reconstruction of the past with the Bakhtinian dialogism. Finally, Chapter V discusses Atwood's revision of the role of the editor demonstrated in the epilogue "Historical Notes" of The Handmaid's Tale and concludes with Offred's longing for communication and survival that propels her act of storytelling.

事實證明艾可(Umberto Eco)的小說《玫瑰之名》在學術界和大眾文化兩個領域中都是一項極大的成就。小說不僅提供了感官上的享受，更充滿了深奧的哲思。更由於艾可本人兼具小說家及符號學(semiotics)理論家的雙重身份，使得小說在「詮釋」的議題上呈現出頗具理論深度的省思。 　　本論文將「詮釋」定義為一種帶有政治動機與意涵的行為(a politicallymotivated act)，不再接受「文本自成一體」(text-in-itself)的觀念。所採取之立場是強調權力機構如何介入論述(discourse)之產生與傳遞。然而本論文亦將由符號學之角度探討符號的本質和閱讀、表意(signification)等問題。 　　論文第一章分析小說中有關「異端」、「貧窮」、以及「笑」等主題之論述，及其與權力抗爭之互動，亦即「權力／論述／知識」(power/ discourse/knowledge)之結構。第二章分別討論埃索(Adso)與威廉(William)兩人解讀(reading/decoding)符號迷宮之行為。第三章處理小說中「文本互涉」與「對話論」之觀念。第四章特別檢視作者艾可在面對自己作品時的「發言位置」(enunciative position)。 　　本論文並未特別遵循任何一種理論之分析方法，目的在於將小說置於當代論述形成之網絡，呈現其中相互輝映、相互批判之潛在關係。最終期望得以驗證艾可的小說與其它當代理論同等「理論化」，並且重新檢視小說／理論之界限。 / Umberto Eco's <u>The Name of the Rose</u> has been proved a great success in both academies and popular culture. It is a novel full of sensuous wonders and philosophical profundity. Owing to Eco's unsual status--a popular novelist and a semiotic theorist --<u>The Name of the Rose</u> (re)presents a thoughtful contemplation on the issues of interpretation. 　　This thesis assesses "interpretation" as a politically motivated act. Thus, the concept of the "text-in-itself" is rejected. Rather, I take the stance the accentuates power institution's interference with the production and the distribution of discourses. But, this thesis also offers a semiotic survey on the nature of sign and the process of reading and signification. 　　Chapter One focuses on the production of discourses on heresy, poverty, and laughter in the novel and its connection with power: in other words, the power/discourse/knowledge structure. Chapter Two respectively discusses the process of Adso's and William's reading/decoding the labyrinth of signs. Chapter Three deals with the ideas of "intertextuality" and "dialogism" presented by the novel. Chapter Four specially examines Eco's enunciative position with respect to the interpretations on his own text. 　　This thesis does not particularly favor any theoretical stance of methodology. The purpose is to discuss the novel as part of the network of the contemporary discourses. The tentative goal of this study is to prove that Eco's novel is no less theorized than other theories as such and finally to re- examine the boundary between theory/novel.