當代美國農村哥德敘事中的鬼畜小獸

The Feral Children and Child Hillbillies in Contemporary American Rural Gothic Narratives

10.6637/CWLQ.202106_50(2).0004

呂奇芬(Chifen Lu)

哥德文學 ； 鄉村哥德 ； 惡童 ； 獸性孩童 ； 通俗文化中的鄉村再現 ； Gothic literature ； the Rural Gothic/Horror ； evil child ； feral child ； the representation of rurality in popular culture

中外文學

50卷2期（2021 / 06 / 30）

79 - 106

繁體中文

本文探討被稱作「鄉村哥德」的當代恐怖敘事次文類中「鄉村惡童」的形象發展，尤其聚焦在具有強烈獸性特徵的「鬼畜小獸」類型，文中探索對此形象發展產生影響的社會與文化脈絡，並討論其對哥德文類與童年書寫的更新和顛覆，以及其反映的社會深層心理－－主要包括「都市標準論」觀點下的鄉村賤斥，對於個體與群體之起源的矛盾心態，兒少矯治教養觀暗含的「馴獸」與「伏魔」式管理技術。本論文企圖指出：通俗文化生產的鄉村惡童形象既顛覆美國文學正典中的鄉村少年神話，也反映了十八世紀以來文明社會對於叛逆失控的青年身體的憂慮。系統化的兒少矯正懲罰制度反映成人對於秩序與控管的執念，而鬼畜小獸的「怪物身體」既對都市標準論構成威脅，也反映兒少規訓技術失靈的危機感以及代際溝通的挫敗感。

This article investigates the development of the peculiar character type of ＂child hillbilly ＂especially the ＂feral child＂ subtype-and its social/cultural significations in contemporary Rural Gothic/Horror narratives. The fear of the ＂feral child,＂ this article argues, reflects an urban-centered abjection of the ＂rural Other,＂ an ambivalent mindset toward the individual and collective origins, and an anxiety about dysfunctional techniques of government intended to tame the child like domesticating beasts. The ＂child hillbillies＂ represented in contemporary popular culture revolt against the beloved American country boy archetype molded by literary canons, expressing intensifying worries over the rebellious youth in the context of the institutionalized and systemized corrective education. The regime of rectification and punishment imposed upon children points to the adults' obsession with order and control, whereas the monstrous body of the ＂feral child＂ symbolizes the mounting threats for both senior authority and ＂urbanormativity.＂ In the multiplying cultural representations of ＂child hillbillies,＂ we perceive a sense of crisis in a time of baffled youth management and depressing intergenerational communication.

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