在〈枯竭的文學〉一文中，約翰•巴斯提出反覆(repetition)的概念，認為文學面臨枯竭的困境，唯由針對原有形式的刻意的重覆及模擬，才能語出新意，另闢蹊徑。本文即以巴斯「反覆」的觀點為出發，進而探討約翰•巴斯在《迷失在歡樂宮》一書中，自我和異己之間的對話關係。
若以巴赫汀的對話理論觀之，生命乃是一共存(co-existence)的事件，自我形成於人我之間的對話關係中。而《迷失在歡樂宮》中的主角卻陷溺於自戀的框架裡，阻絕了自我和異己之間對話；此外，他們在自戀式的獨白中，更彰顯了象徵體係中父權的制約力量。臣服於父權之下，故事的主角僅淪落為既有體系的重覆而已。由於迷戀於完美父親形象「一種完美形式」的追求，他們皆在既有象徵系統的制約下，因而落入無止境的重覆模式中。無論如何，在《迷失在歡樂宮》裡與父權的制約力量相抗衡的是一種巴赫汀式的「嘉年華」離心力，此種顛覆的模式貫穿全書，並且提供書中主角一個解放的出路。書中最後的無名遊唱詩人即體認到異己和異同的存在，而自我即形成於人我之間不斷的對話關係之中，如同一封「奇異且不間斷的情書」。
約翰•巴斯在《迷失在歡樂宮》一書中即注入了他對於（枯竭文學）的活水源頭。巴斯有意以重覆古老模式的同時，他也寫出了異於傳統具備新意的形式；此外，面對當代人類困境的描述上，巴斯的《迷失在歡樂宮》正好寫出了巴赫汀所謂的「小說理念，」揭示了人類文明的進程。 / John Barth has advocated his idea of "repetition" in "Literature of Exhaustion" (1967). To extricate one from the aporia of the "used-upness" of literature, one may, as Barth claims, deliberately repeat or parody the old forms to produce something "new and solid." This thesis will start with Barth's idea of the repetition with a difference as declared in his essay above and then dwell on a discussion of the self/other dialogue in John Barth's <u>Lost</u> <u>in</u> <u>the</u> <u>Funhouse</u>.
For Bakhtin, life is an event of co-existence and the self is formed somewhere in the borderline in the self/other dialogue. Yet, the protagonists in Lost in the Funhouse are portrayed as entrapped in a narcissistic circle which has rendered the self/other dialogue impossible. Moreover, in their narcissistic monologues, the protagonists have shown their enthrallment to the Symbolic Father which has reduced them into the repetition of It. Engrossed by the image of an ideal Father--the Good Form, the protagonists are compelled to repeat in a symbolic universe of difference. The outlet or the "loophole" out of the narcissistic circle, however, is inherent in the protagonists's utterances running throughout the whole series. This "carnival impulse" to break from the narcissistic circle is released at the final story of Barth's oeuvre. The nameless minstrel of the last story in the series has come to affirm the difference within repetition in a constant self/other dialogue as if in a "strange and continuing love letter" (LF 200).
As a refraction of his intention, Lost in the Funhouse has embodied John Barth's attempt at a literature of exhaustion. In his deliberate repetition of the old novel form, John Barth has achieved something "new and solid." Moreover, in his solution to the aporia confronted by the modern man, John Barth has produced in his experimental text a "new human work," or in terms of Bakhtin, a true "novel," which has marked out the stage in the development of human civilization.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CHENGCHI/B2002003740 |
| Creators | 范燕珍, Fan, Yen Jen |
| Publisher | 國立政治大學 |
| Source Sets | National Chengchi University Libraries |
| Language | 英文 |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Rights | Copyright © nccu library on behalf of the copyright holders |
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