遊戲尚未結束：喬叟《坎特伯里故事集》中的遊戲元素

Abstract

在《坎特伯里故事集》中，喬叟曾多次直接指出或間接暗示旅程中的故事競賽為一遊戲。然而，對此文本的研究文獻，卻鮮少從遊戲觀點切入分析。即便有，也多是從語言角度，來處理文本中各角色間的口語遊戲，或喬叟本人的文字遊戲，離真正的遊戲本身，似還有一段距離。有鑑於此，我試著以惠欽格及凱洛斯對遊戲的論述，做為理論框架，來分析《坎特伯里故事集》中的遊戲元素。我首先將找出證據，來證明整個朝聖之旅符合遊戲的定義，然後以其中三個故事為例，來分析四種遊戲範疇。本論文將分為五章，在第一章，我先說明遊戲長期以來被人忽視的地位，接著我將引入惠辛格及凱洛斯的論述。惠辛格提出遊戲的概念、定義，及功能；凱洛斯作為惠辛格在遊戲論述領域中的繼承人，則將惠辛格的成就，加以推展及補充，並將遊戲定義為四個範疇：競爭、機會、模仿、暈眩。所有的遊戲都可被歸納為這四類。在第一章的後半部，我將逐一從文本中，找出證據，來證明《坎特伯里故事集》在在都符合遊戲的定義。在第二章，我將討論＜騎士的故事＞中競爭與機會之運作。在第三章中，我將從模仿的層面來分析＜赦罪修士的故事＞。在第四章中，我將從暈眩的角度來看＜修女院教士的故事＞。在第五章中，我將總結前四章的要點，然後探討文學作為遊戲的可能性。最末，從遊戲的往復特性來看，我將主張《坎特伯里》遊戲尚未結束，它是遊戲昇華為藝術的最佳範本。

In many places of The Canterbury Tales, Geoffrey Chaucer points out that this story-telling contest would be a game. However, researches on this text have scarcely been done from the perspective of game. In view of this, I try to apply Jonah Huizinga and Roger Caillois’ concepts of game as the main theoretical framework to The Canterbury Tales. In this thesis, I justify the pilgrimage as a big game first and then discuss the elements of play in three tales respectively. The thesis is divided into five chapters. In chapter one, I recount the subordinate position of game first and then introduce Huizinga and Caillois’ discourses. Huizinga comes up with the concept, definition, and function of game; Caillois modifies Huizinga’s notions and then categorizes games into four kinds: agon, alea, mimicry, and ilinx. In the following part of chapter one, I prove that The Canterbury Tales as a whole matches the notion of a game. In chapter two, I discuss the exercises of agon and alea in The Knight’s Tale. In chapter three, I analyze The Pardoner’s Tale from the aspect of mimicry. In chapter four, I see The Nun’s Priest’s Tale from the perspective of ilinx. In chapter five, I summarize the previous chapters first, and then explore the possibility of literature as the game. I argue that the game of The Canterbury Tales is not over and that it is the sublimation form of game into art.