"言其未言,補其裂縫:" 論愛倫坡偵探故事中的敘事斷裂

Abstract

在本論文中，將借用皮埃爾‧馬舍雷的理論，深入分析愛倫坡偵探故事中的敘事斷裂。首先在第二章中，先釐清「偵探小說」的定義：偵探小說乃是一個虛構故事，主題敘述偵探或某位近似偵探的人物偵破一件案子的過程。根據該定義，即可得知愛倫坡並非第一個偵探故事的作者，卻是偵探文類的開山鼻祖。\n 第三章處理馬舍雷的理論。首先，馬舍雷認為任何一個文本中，作者必定會留下未竟之語，即所謂的敘事斷裂。這些未竟之語讓文本中的聲音多元化，也是文本存在的原因。若將馬舍雷的已說/未竟之語之模式，與阿圖舍，伊果頓，詹明信等人關於意識形態的論述一起檢視，便能刻劃出這個相互關係：文本無法直接取得歷史，必須透過意識形態；文本無法精確反映出意識形態，後者若置於前者後，前者的未竟之語便會出現。另外，馬舍雷在「文學製造理論」一書中曾提及：文本中的未竟之語，即是文本原本可能的發展方向，或是一種潛能。若套用德勒茲虛擬/現實的觀念，即可得到此結論：馬舍雷所謂的未竟之語或敘事斷裂，即是德勒茲的虛擬，乃是儲藏潛能之處。一旦未竟之語被說出，敘事斷裂被彌補，就是開發出一種潛能，或是呈現出一種文本可能的發展情境。根據已上所言，筆者提出一個假設：愛倫坡的偵探故事中，在故事情境¡，偵探角色刻劃，以及邏輯推演三個地方，留有敘事斷裂。而在古典，冷硬，以及後現代的偵探小說中，會用不同的方式，來彌補這三個敘事斷裂，也呈現出愛倫坡偵探故事三種可能的發展。\n 第四章處理愛倫坡偵探故事中的故事情境與主題間的關係。愛倫坡的偵探故事寫於1840年代，當時的美國人民深信美國的富強（強勢意識形態），但實際上工業化與都市化卻帶來各種的社會問題（強勢意識形態的內部矛盾）。在愛倫坡的偵探故事中，都市乃是個陰暗之地，但卻又和故事發展無直接相關。這顯然和愛倫坡的成長背景有關（作者立場）。因此愛倫坡在此處的未竟之語：在偵探故事中，故事情境與主題應有直接關連。一些重要的古典偵探小說家，像是愛嘉莎克莉絲蒂或柯南道爾，傾向根據當時的一般意識形態（general ideology, GI）來描繪故事情境，並把故事中的犯罪看成破壞社會穩定。冷硬派的偵探小說著重社會寫實，因此故事情境多為衰敗的城市，這也是犯罪的根源。至於後現代的偵探小說，故事情境多為如迷宮般的世界，陷在其中偵探的調查最後觸礁。\n 第五章處理偵探的角色刻劃。當時的主流意識形態，乃是強調理性的啟蒙思維，但其實社會上卻有另一股強調非理性的暗流思潮（強勢意識形態的內部矛盾），而愛倫坡對於理性的態度卻不甚明朗（作者立場）。在「莫爾格街兇殺案」與「瑪莉羅傑之謎」兩故事中的偵探角色杜賓，基本上是個平板人物（flat character），僅是理性的化身。但在「失竊的信函」中，杜賓的角色刻劃，卻和裡面的惡徒，D部長，並無太大差別。在此的敘事斷裂：偵探故事中的偵探與惡徒間的二元對立遭到破壞。然而，在偵探小說發展的三個階段中，這個斷裂卻從未彌補：古典派的偵探看似代表理性或律法，其實常有犯法之舉；冷硬派的偵探角色刻劃複雜，而且有可能是社會上的弱勢族群，時常踩到法律界線；至於後現代的偵探，則和惡徒毫無二致。\n 第六章處理邏輯推演與真相間的關係。首先，邏輯推演乃是啟蒙思維下的產物，深植於當時的強勢論述。在愛倫坡的三個偵探故事，以及「金甲蟲」中，邏輯推演乃是找出真相的手段。然而，若細看杜賓的邏輯推演，即知其中有所缺陷（強勢意識形態內部矛盾的顯現），這顯然和愛倫坡能吸納矛盾的能力有關（作者立場）。在此愛倫坡的未竟之語：邏輯推演並不一定能得到真相。在古典派的偵探小說中，這個敘事斷裂並未得到彌補：這類偵探故事強調故事結構，著重偵探以邏輯推理來解謎，甚至以規則規範，終於使得偵探文類遇到瓶頸（而馬舍雷在《文學製造理論》一書中曾談及他對結構的不信任，似乎是預見了偵探文類此時的困境）。在之後的冷硬派偵探小說中，這個敘事斷裂終得到彌補：冷硬派偵探以實際的調查行動破案，而將邏輯推演置於次要地位。至於在後現代的偵探小說中，這個未言則更被說出：後現代偵探的推理往往無功，而且真相永遠無法找到。\n 本章也觸及「真相議題」，即在偵探故事中案子是否該被偵破。首先，偵探文類的本質即為解謎，此乃閱讀偵探小說的樂趣，也是偵探小說屬於大眾文學的原因。若在考量這三個次文類(subgenre)其實可以相互融合，以及並非所有後現代的偵探故事都沒有真相，則可以得到這個結論：發現真相是偵探小說在大眾文學中的最後一道防線，那些沒有真相的後現代偵探故事數量應不會太多，也會進入嚴肅文學(serious literature). \n 第七章總結本論文的發現，列出（未）被彌補的敘事斷裂，並追溯出偵探小說文類的發展軌跡：從一般意識形態，到社會寫實，再到後現代的美學意識形態 (aesthetic ideology, AI)。

In this dissertation, Pierre Macherey’s theorizations will be employed for an in-depth analysis of the narrative ruptures in Edgar Allan Poe’s detective stories. First, in Chapter Two the definition of the detective novel is clarified: a detective novel refers to a fictional story that deals thematically with a crime as well as how it is solved by a detective or someone like a detective. By this definition, we can conclude that Poe didn’t write the first detective story but is the progenitor of the detective fiction genre. \nChapter Three deals with Macherey’s theorizations. Macherey thinks that the author must have left something unsaid in his text. The unsaid is responsible for the multiplicity of the voices in the text, enabling the text to exist. When Macherey’s said/unsaid model is examined along with Althusser’s, Eagleton’s and Jameson’s theorizations about ideology, the nature of this interrelationship can be characterized: the text can’t access history directly; it has to go through the ideology. The text only reflects the ideology inaccurately; if the latter is put in the former, the former’s unsaid will emerge. In addition, in A Theory of Literary Productions, Macherey has mentioned that the unsaid in the text is what a text could have been, or a potentiality. Framed with Deleuze’s concept of virtual and actual, it can lead to this conclusion: Macherey’s so-called unsaid or narrative rupture is Deleuze’s virtual(ity), or a repository of potentialities. Once the unsaid is said or the narrative rupture is repaired, a potentiality will be tapped, or a possible case scenario of the text will be enacted. Based on the above, I postulate hypothesis: Poe’s detective stories have three narrative ruptures pertaining to the story settings, the characterization of the detective, and the logic reasoning. And in classical, hard-boiled, and postmodern detective fiction, the three narrative ruptures have been repaired in three different ways. Thus, three possible case scenarios of Poe’s detective stories have been enacted. \nChapter Four deals with the relationship between the settings and the themes in Poe’s detective stories. Poe’s detective stories were composed in the 1840’s, when the Americans were convinced of the U.S.’s prosperity (the dominant ideology). However, industrialization and urbanization also brought about various social problems. In Poe’s detective stories, the city is portrayed as a dark place (the internal contradiction of the dominant ideology), but it has no bearing on the action of the story. It is clearly relevant to Poe’s upbringing (the authorial position). So this is what Poe has left unsaid: in a detective story its setting should be related to its theme. Several significant classical detective novelists, such as Arthur Conan Doyle and Agatha Christie, tend to base the settings of their stories on the general ideology then, and view the crimes in their stories as the menaces to their stable society. Hard-boiled detective fiction foregrounds social realism, so the setting is usually a decaying city, which is also s seedbed of criminal activities. As for postmodern detective fiction, the setting is often a labyrinthine world, where a trapped detective’s investigation ends up stranded. \nChapter Five deals with the characterization of the detective. The dominant ideology in Poe’s era was the Enlightenment thinking, which emphasizes reason. However, there was also an undercurrent of unreason (the internal contradiction of the dominant ideology), and Poe takes an ambivalent attitude towards reason (the author’s position). In “The Murders in the Rue Morgue” and “The Mystery of Marie Rogêt,” the detective, Dupin, is a flat character, an embodiment of reason. However, in “The Purloined Letter,” the characterization of Dupin isn’t so differentiated from that of Minister D, the villain. Here, this is what Poe has left unsaid: the detective/villain dichotomy has been dismantled. However, throughout the three developmental stages of the detective fiction genre, this narrative rupture has never been repaired. Classical detectives seem to represent law or reason, but they often break the law; hard-boiled detectives are usually complex characters, or come from the minority groups in society. They often overstep the legal boundary. As for postmodern detectives, there’s no telling them from the villains. \nChapter Six deals with the correlation between the ratiocinative pattern and the truth. First, ratiocination is a product of the Enlightenment; it is deeply rooted in the dominant ideology. In Poe’s three detective stories as well as “The Gold-Bug,” the ratiocinative pattern is a means to the truth. However, a close look at Dupin’s reasoning processes will reveal that it is imperfect (the internal contradiction of the dominant ideology). Here, what Poe has left unsaid is: the ratiocinative pattern doesn’t necessarily lead to the truth. This narrative rupture has never been repaired in classical detective fiction. The top priority in this subgenre is the narrative structure; it focuses on how the detective has reasoned out the truth. There were even rules dictating how classical detective stories should be created. Eventually, the detective fiction genre ended up bottlenecked. (In A Theory of Literary Production, Macherey speaks about his distrust in structure, as if he had foreseen the quagmire of the detective fiction genre). The narrative rupture has finally been repaired in hard-boiled detective fiction: hard-boiled detectives often solve their cases with an active investigation, pushing ratiocination to a secondary position. In postmodern detective fiction, the unsaid has been said even more: a postmodern detective’s ratiocination is often fruitless, and the truth is not found. \nChapter Six also touches on the “truth issue,” namely, the issue of whether the case should be solved in a detective story. First, in both classical and hard-boiled detective fiction, the truth always comes out in the end. In addition, solving a mystery is an inherent attribute of the detective fiction genre. It is precisely what makes reading detective fiction fun, and it is also what puts detective fiction in the popular literature. What’s more, the three subgenres can be combined sometimes, and not all postmodern detective stories have done away with the discovery of the truth. Considering all these above, we can draw this conclusion: finding the truth is the final defense line in keeping the detective fiction genre within the popular literature. Those postmodern detective stories where the truth is lost should be few and far between, and they will end up in the serious literature. \nChapter Seven sums up the findings in this dissertation, listing how the narrative ruptures have been (un)repaired. And the developmental route of the detective fiction genre is also retraced: it moves from GI, to social realism, and to AI.