「禮」尚往來：論富蘭克林〈北美野蠻人之相關評論〉中的的悅納異己與文化殖民議題

Abstract

富蘭克林 (Benjamin Franklin) 在其〈北美野蠻人之相關評論〉(“Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America”) 一文中，藉由「禮物」隱喻與「悅納異己」(hospitality) 概念，突顯一個殖民與文化議題：到底誰才是野蠻人？白人抑或印地安人？富蘭克林一方面對於白人假「禮物」交換、強行消滅印地安「禮儀」、行文化殖民之實，提出強烈批判；另一方面，對印地安人的「禮物」交換總是遵循互惠原則，以及無條件的「悅納異己」，多所肯定。論文主要分為二部分：（一），闡釋作者如何將「禮物」隱喻融入文化殖民議題，表達其對文化帝國主義的省思。（二），剖析作者如何藉由印地安人的無條件「悅納異己」，彰顯印地安部落的「非野蠻」形象。

Benjamin Franklin’s “Remarks Concerning the Savages of North America” addresses an issue of cultural colonialism through the metaphor of the “gift” and the concept of “hospitality”: Who on earth are “savage” people? Native American Indians or Europeans? Franklin voices concern over the stereotypes of Native Americans under European cultural colonization, drawing upon Indian gift-exchange and hospitality to deconstruct the negative stereotypes surrounding Native American cultures. Firstly, this paper aims to examine how Franklin embeds the metaphor of the “gift” in the issue of cultural colonialism to criticize white Europeans’ attempt to efface the cultural differences between Europeans and Native Americans. Secondly, this paper probes how Franklin highlights the civility of American Indians through their “unconditional” hospitality.