神話的詮釋與運用──從姑目‧荅芭絲《部落記憶──霧社事件的口述歷史》中三則神話傳說談起

Abstract

在科學昌明的現代社會，古老的神話與當代人的距離似乎已愈來愈遙遠；然而卻也有若干神話學者認為，現今人們所面臨的社會生活景況，在某種程度上其實與原始初民所身處的神話世界頗為相近。因此，即便人們如今的思維方式已無法再創造出神話，但是這個世界仍然處處充滿著形構一則神話的基本元素，故當代人除了藉由虛擬的神話世界如小說、電影等，以滿足自身的幻想和填補信仰的空缺外，其記憶中遙遠的古老神話也從過去穿透時空的阻隔，以不同的面貌與型態適時地在今日發揮作用。以台灣原住民族為例，由於目前仍然有一些神話在民間活絡著，因此神話與族群及當代社會的關係顯然更為緊密，而這種緊密關係我們可從其族群積極對神話的詮釋和運用中略窺端倪。

In the scientific modern society, ancient myths seem distant from present people; however, in certain degree, some scholars think that living conditions now are similar to original mythic world. Even people cannot create myths with current thoughts, but basic mythic elements still exist in the world. People satisfy their own fantasy and fill up their belief vacancy by virtual mythic world, such as novels and movies. Moreover, old myths of memories pierce through times and present today with different appearances and shapes. For instance, because myths are still animated in the folks of Taiwanese aborigines, the relationship is very tight between tribes and society. This kind of close relationship can be glimpsed from the active attitude toward interpretation and application of the myths.