一則弔詭的台灣寓言─《風前塵埃》的灣生書寫、敘事策略與日本情結

Abstract

施叔青「台灣三部曲」的第二部《風前塵埃》（2008）將「灣生日本人」放入「台灣三部曲」中作為小說主角，乃重新置疑並思考所謂「台灣」的界線何在？內涵又包括哪些？本文認為作家的灣生書寫具有特殊意義，一方面為被遺忘的歷史族群作傳，另一方面卻也背負了難以言喻的包袱─前殖民地作家該如何書寫以殖民者為主角的「台灣寓言」呢？本文從灣生書寫、戰爭敘事、美學敘事等幾個面向探討此一艱難的書寫與認同困境，進而對小說中的政治寓言展開批判與反思。本文認為《風前塵埃》的敘事軌跡透露了敘事者的政治無意識，再現了一則弔詭的台灣寓言。小說以日本人作為主要敘述視角的開創性作法，固然填補了台灣殖民歷史上的一頁空白，卻也導致了台灣主體空缺的結果；書中盤桓不去的日本情結，在在顯示殖民遺緒如幽靈般盤旋至今。本文認為「文化混雜」的詮釋已難以說明《風前塵埃》在敘事策略與書寫倫理上的課題，因此將策略性的回歸法農，運用其批判殖民權力的觀點重新梳理這項解殖的工作。文中將指出《風前塵埃》在國族寓言書寫上的弔詭與困境，同時也反映出台灣當前的後殖民癥狀，而指認癥狀是期許另一個解殖實踐的開始。

The second piece of Shih Shu-ching’s Taiwan Trilogy, Dust in the Wind (2008), makes “wansei”（Japanese who were born in Taiwan during the period of Japanese Rule）the protagonists of the trilogy. By doing so, it problematizes and rethinks the border of “Taiwan” and questions what should be included under “Taiwan” as a category. This essay highlights the significance of Taiwan born Japanese’s writing of Shih. On the one hand, it leaves records for a forgotten historical ethnic group; on the other hand, it bears indescribable burdens—How should an ex-colonial writer write a “Taiwan allegory” of which the protagonist is the colonizer? This essay probes this difficult writing and its identity crisis through the discussions of wansei’s writing, war narrative, and aesthetic narrative. Further, it criticizes and re-examines the political fable of the novel. This essay suggests that the narrative trajectory of Dust in the Wind reveals the narrator’s political unconscious and represents a paradoxical Taiwan national allegory. The brand new narrative perspective from wansei undoubtedly fills up and blank page of Taiwan’s colonial history, but it also leads to the missing of the Taiwanese subject. The Japanese complex that haunts the novel from the beginning echoes the colonial legacy that continues until now. This essay suggests that “cultural hybridity” cannot fully explain the narrative strategy and writing ethics of Dust in the Wind. In light of Frantz Fanon`s criticism on colonial power, this essay sees decolonization in Dust in the Wind. The essay points out the paradox and difficulties of Dust in the Wind’s national allegory, which reflect the post-colonial symptoms of contemporary Taiwan. To recognize symptoms marks the beginning of decolonization.