Ritual in Thomas Hardy's The Return of the Native

哈代《歸鄉人》中的儀式

10.30092/JHCLANCHU.200709.0014

鄭冠榮(Kuan-Jung Cheng)

儀式 ； 協調 ； 神聖性 ； 世俗化 ； 介於其中 ； ritual ； negotiation ； sacredness ； secularization ； liminality

興大人文學報

39期（2007 / 09 / 01）

441 - 464

英文

《歸鄉人》(The Return of the Native)(1878)是哈代(Thomas Hardy)眾多作品中運用儀式(ritual)最頻繁也最明顯的小說。儀式諸如秋天的火焰儀式(bonfire)，年終的聖喬治戲碼(St. George mummer)，還有五月節(Maypole)等，都是哈代刻意用來加強事件意義的安排。哈代一直秉持一種想法，“藝術藉由強化事件的表達方式後，事件其內在的意義才可以彰顯。”小說做為一種藝術旨在發送出一種樂趣，而此種樂趣來自於小說對特殊經驗，還有心靈和身體的感受的特別著墨。因此哈代認為小說在做為人與外在世界的媒介上具有協調(negotiation)的作用。準此，哈代在《歸鄉人》中刻意鋪陳不同儀式的手法啟發筆者借用透納(Victor Turner)的概念來檢視這些儀式的作用，而再進一步呼應哈代對小說具協調功用的看法。易言之，這些儀式正是《歸鄉人》中主要角色克萊姆(Clym)和優思塔西亞(Eustacia)和艾格登(Egdon Heath)鄉民的一種中介，更精確的說法應是哈代透過這些因古老而有點在艾格登村民記憶中不甚完整的儀式來突顯十九世紀中葉一個獨立於揚揚沸沸的工業革命外偏遠鄉下的庶民生活。優思塔西亞做為一個具有想法且不滿現狀的女性，一直望向遠方，而從金幣碎落的巴黎回鄉的克萊姆正符合她內在的渴望。然而，縱然不願意去認同當地居民的典禮儀式優思塔西亞，卻必須透過聖喬治中變裝成土耳其騎士才可以窺見，甚至接近克萊姆。儀式所具有的神聖性(sacredness)被優思塔西亞對於情愛渴求，或是急欲脫離孤立凝滯不動的艾格登的想法世俗化了(secularization)。因此儀式對現實常規(normality)擱置(suspension)所產生的神聖性在此備受挑戰。觀此，此篇文章旨在探討《歸鄉人》中儀式做為一種協調艾格登居民中不同階級的可能性，讀者在此點上感受到具體的衝突。所以在此哈代似乎指出了儀式在小說中諸多衝突做為媒介的必要性，並進一步呼應了他認為小說做為一種藝術的具協調的中介意義。

Of all the novels by Thomas Hardy, The Return of the Native is unique in that it is characterized with three apparent ritual scenes. The rituals such as the autumn bonfire, St. George mummer, and the May pole festival are employed by Hardy to reinforce the significance of events. Hardy has always insisted that the meaning of art be clearly illustrated by the way of this intensification. Also, novel as an art form is to give readers pleasure, and the pleasure comes from the writer's specific rendering of physical and psychological experience. Seen in this light, novel thus serves as a negotiation intermediate between readers and their lives. Along with this, ideas of ritual proposed by the anthropologist Victor W. Turner are introduced to examine the network woven by Egdon Heath, the rustics, Clym, and Eustacia so that the texture of the novel can be closely scrutinized. The texture of the network is constituted by sacredness/secularization, paganism/Christianity, /inside/outside, etc., and most important of all by liminality. Ritual in this novel negotiates conflicts between different classes, and in an analogical sense, novel negotiates, according to Hardy, harshness between readers and their lives.

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