返鄉敘事缺席: 台灣當代旅行文學

Abstract

本文對興盛的臺灣當代旅行文學提出一種反思。徵諸於范登阿比利（Georges Van Den Abbeele）「旅行經濟學」（Economy of Travel）的理論，本文指出結構上的「返鄉敘事缺席」是臺灣當代旅行文學的一種獨特現象。本文首先確認「旅行」必須以圓形的結構來瞭解。旅行的觀念得以成立是因為「家」先驗性的存在。家的存在使得旅行者得以踏上旅途，衡量他／她的旅程遠近；家等待旅行者結束行程歸來，使「旅行」有別於「流浪」、「流放」、「流離」與「移居遷徙」。旅行者必須返家以見證他／她的越界經驗。本文探討臺灣當代旅行文學，以「旅行經濟學」、「三毛現象」、「女性旅行」、「與他者相遇」、「認識自我」與「旅行的文類，文類的旅行」六點著手切入，期盼能掌握到問題的核心，提供觀點來研究旅行與旅行寫作。

The present essay goes against the grain with the celebration of the blooming of contemporary Taiwan travel literature. In light of Georges Van Den Abbeele’s theory of Economy of Travel, the present essay brings the issue of structure to the fore, observing that there has been the peculiar absence of “return-home” narrative in contemporary Taiwan travel literature.The present essay proposes that travel must be understood in its structural circularity. The concept of travel is based on the prior existence of home, which allows one to go traveling within a certain distance. Home, in turn, waits for the traveler’s return, differentiating “travel” from “wandering,” “exile,” “diaspora” and “migration.” It is thus essential that the traveler returns home to bear witness to his/her experience of boundary crossing.To present an observation of the contemporary Taiwan travel literature, the present essay discusses the issue at hand from the perspectives of “economy of travel,” “Shanmou Phenomenon,” “Female Travel,” “Encounter the Other,” “To Know the Self,” and “Genre of Travel, Travel of Genre.”