Thoreauvian Narcissism in Walden

《湖濱散記》中的梭羅式自戀

許惠芬(Hui-fen Hsu)

Walden ； Thoreau ； narcissism ； Transcendentalism ； nature ； 湖濱散記 ； 梭羅 ； 自戀情結 ； 超越主義 ； 大自然

興大人文學報

61期（2018 / 09 / 01）

137 - 158

英文

Walden seems to be a relatively straightforward text that achieves a unanimous comprehension about Thoreau's embrace of pastoral idealism and refutation of urban materialism. Under the surface of this common interpretation, however, lies the author's narcissistic tendency that disrupts the moral messages inculcated into the minds of the inferior others. The purpose of this study is to explore Thoreauvian narcissism in Walden through the synthesis of scholarly critiques on his life and thought. As a paradigmatic figure of Romantic and Transcendentalist thought, Thoreau advocates the reverence for nature and exploration of inner depth in his Walden experiment. However, the passionate search and urgent pleas for spiritual freedom are inseparable from his self-consciousness. The Transcendental vision in Walden implicates the appropriation of nature and discrimination of others. The two strands of narcissism constitute the contents of this study. Thoreau not only sublimates natural phenomena through his intense perception but also intends to soar above the modern world by criticizing its commercial values. Thoreau's self-attachment has an implicit presence throughout Walden, triggering all his idiosyncratic ideas about nature and humanity.

《湖濱散記》似乎是簡單的文本，讀者對其中的主題，總能達成一致性的理解，例如梭羅懷抱田園式的理想主義以及對都市物質主義的譴責。然而在此表面性的詮釋底下，卻隱藏作者思維的自戀傾向，干擾並破壞他對無知大眾的道德訓示。本研究目的在於整合批評家們對於梭羅其人及其思想的見解後，從中探討《湖濱散記》如何反映梭羅式的自戀情結。梭羅是浪漫主義及超越主義的代表性人物，在體驗湖畔的獨居生活中，倡導對自然的崇敬及自我內在的探索。然而，他對心靈自由的熱情追尋及迫切疾呼，和強烈的自我意識密不可分。他的超越主義精神，蘊含對大自然的挪用和對他人的分別心。自戀情結所衍生的這兩大層面，是本研究內容的主軸。梭羅透過敏銳的觀察，將自然現象神聖化，同時也批判現代世界的商業價值觀，藉此凸顯自己異於常人的高度。他的自我執念深植於《湖濱散記》中，由此衍生出對人性和大自然的特異觀點。

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