試論張毅小說《源》中的國族想像

Abstract

本文旨在分析張毅1978年小說《源》中的國族想像。小說敘述主角吳霖芳跟隨父母移民台灣、定居、探勘石油、一家三代的故事。小說敘事時間從十八世紀末到十九世紀末，結束在清朝政府割讓台灣與日本的前夕，以中國近代史為背景，鋪陳一段先民開墾台灣的故事，並將吳霖芳立志開採石油、讓家家戶戶夜裡點燈，亮如白晝的事蹟，寫入中國追求西化與現代化的艱苦過程裡。小說描繪台灣的自然環境、社會、居民日常生活與客家、福佬、原住民等不同群體之間的互動。 小說的國族想像值得我們注意，也由於作品的多重歷史感。首先，這是一部中國近代史、台灣史和台灣石油探勘史等大歷史裡，一個台灣漢人先民的故事。小說創作時間─中華民國正統地位搖搖欲墜的七○年代末─提供小說第二層的歷史意義。最後，小說先於1980 年被改編成一部符合當年意識型態的史詩電影，然後在2010 年、台灣本土化運動開展三十年後，被改編成電視劇；小說與兩個影像改編文本在國族想像上演繹的異同，自也深具歷史性。 台灣解嚴三十年以來，台灣身分與國族想像的研究蔚為顯學，成果甚豐，但似乎台灣文學研究的切入角度常為社會學、台灣歷史、文化與政治之間折衝或其他當代文化研究理論的觀點，有時不無將研究焦點由文學作品轉移到作品的歷史、社會背景或文化理論之憾。論文以小說文本為本，佐以與1980年和2010年兩個影像改編文本三者的比較，在探索小說所表達的國族想像之餘，也希望對台灣社會的國族想像及其轉變的脈絡提供一些省思和研究開展的方向。

The present study analyzes the national imagination in Yuan (The Source), a novel by Zhang Yi published in 1978. Yuan tells the story of three generations of a Chinese immigrant family in Taiwan by recounting how the main protagonist Wu Linfang follows his parents to Taiwan and begins his life as a settler. Yuan is also a historical novel inspired by the history of oil exploration in Taiwan. The storyline runs from the late 17th century to the eve of Japanese occupation in 1895. With its action weaved into the timeline of the most important events of Chinese modern history, Yuan describes the settlement of a Han Chinese family in Taiwan and links the personal story of Wu Lingfang’s adventures in the oil exploration to the difficult quest for modernization of Chinese people. The novel portrays Taiwan’s natural environment, its society, its residents’ everyday lives and interactions between different Taiwanese communities including the Hakkas, the Hoklo people and the aborigines. The national imagination of the novel is worth noting because of its multiple layers of historical and meta-historical significance. The story itself, i.e., that of the Han settler family, is embedded in the grand narratives of Chinese modern history, the history of Taiwan and the history of Taiwanese oil extraction. The novel was written in the late 1970s. This was a time when the idea that the Republic of China on Taiwan was the real and only China had ceased to be defensible. The novel was adapted in 1980 into an epic film, which appeared to conform with the Chinese ideology of the time. It was again adapted to a television series in 2010 after the society had undergone thirty years of nativation and Taiwanization. Each iteration of the narrative provides a separate snapshot of Taiwanese society and historiography. Studies on Taiwanese identity and national imagination have flourished since the abolition of the martial law in 1987. However, Taiwanese literature is often analyzed from the angles of sociology, of Taiwanese history, of interactions between cultures and politics, or of other contemporary cultural theories. Unfortunately, the focus has sometimes been shifted from the literary works themselves to their historical or social backgrounds or to cultural theories. The present article aims to analyze the national imagination of the novel itself and compare it to those of the 1980 film and 2010 series. Its reflections on the changes of the Taiwanese national imagination will hopefully enhance the understanding of such national imagination and lead to a new research direction.