從小兒麻痺症以及《回憶錄》抉發司各特的生命內涵

Abstract

瓦爾特．司各特在歷史上享有歐洲歷史小說之父的美名。然而他僅以「威弗利的作者」署名出版絕大多數的小說創作，並在遭逢1826年的破產之前未公開表示自己身為作者的身份（雖然這幾乎是眾人皆知的秘密），因此被後人冠上「偉大的未知」的稱號。但這位「偉大的未知」對於自身的跛足，卻從不遮掩。司各特不只在《回憶錄》記載幼時感染小兒麻痺症的經過以及與此病痛搏鬥的心路歷程，他還清楚說明此病症與他形塑人格特質的過程具有高度關聯。雖然人類感染此病症的歷史已有數千年之久，但對其描述卻遲至十八世紀末才出現在蘇格蘭、英格蘭與德國等地。由於司各特的《回憶錄》提供了近代歷史上最為完整的關於感染小兒麻痺症的文字記錄，此份史料不只對醫學研究價值不斐，對於認識司各特也非常珍貴。本文將回歸歷史現場，梳理十八世紀末、十九世紀初醫學界對於小兒痲痺症的認識與醫療方式，以及社會對此病症的普遍態度，並以此視角進入司各特的生平與創作，試圖探究他對此病症所提出的論述，以及小兒麻痺症對於形塑這位偉大作家生命內涵的影響與意義。

Walter Scott, father of the European historical novel, published most of his novels using the name ＂the Author of Waverley.＂ He did not make his authorship public (although it was an open secret) until his financial ruin in 1826. As a result, he was nicknamed ＂the Great Unknown.＂ Nonetheless, this ＂Great Unknown＂ was frank in recording in his Memoir his own personal experiences of contracting polio when only eighteen months old. Scott clearly explained to his readers the impact of polio in the development of his personality. Even though the history of polio infection in humans is some several thousand years, descriptions of it did not appear until the late eighteenth century in places like Scotland, England and Germany. Scott`s Memoir offers one of the earliest descriptions of polio in human history ; therefore, it has a unique value to medical researchers in this field. From the perspectives of medical humanities, this paper intends to investigate the knowledge of polio and the treatment of it in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century. In addition, it is also this paper`s intention to understand the influence that polio had on Scott`s life and his writings.