Becoming-Rosebush: Metamorphosis in Ali Smith's "The Beholder"

成為玫瑰花叢：談阿里．史密斯短篇故事〈旁觀者〉中的變形意象

En-hui Shih(施恩惠)

metamorphosis ； a new form of being ； plasticity ； becoming ； a line of flight ； 變形 ； 新生命形式 ； 可塑性 ； 生成 ； 逃逸路線

興大人文學報

71期（2023 / 09 / 01）

59 - 80

英文;繁體中文

Ali Smith, a British author renowned for her experimental writing style and explorations of themes such as ecology, identity, gender, and time, published her collection of short stories, Public Library and Other Stories, in 2015. This collection features twelve stories interspersed with conversations between Smith and other notable writers, discussing the role of public libraries in the UK. "The Beholder," the fourth short story in the collection, follows the protagonist-narrator, who transforms mysteriously into a rosebush after being diagnosed with depression and breathing difficulties. Smith employs the symbiotic image of a rosebush and a woman to challenge traditional cultural discourse and showcase the freedom that comes with metamorphosis. This paper draws on Catherine Malabou's concept of "plasticity" and Deleuze and Guattari's concept of "becoming" to reframe the concept of metamorphosis and argue that the protagonist-narrator's transformation in "The Beholder" is a "new form of life" that enables her to break free from "the impossible flight," exposes the limitations of traditional cultural norms, and ultimately allows her to find inner peace and understand the world in a different way.

英國當代小說家阿里．史密斯（Ali Smith）以實驗性寫作風格探索生態、身份、性別和時間彼此相聯關係而聞名。其於2015年發表的短篇故事集《公共圖書館和其他故事》中除了集合其創作的十二篇短篇故事外，並在故事與故事間穿插了作者與其他著名作家談論英國公共圖書館功能的經驗交流，藉以強調公共圖書館的存在對英國社會的重要性。收錄於此書中的第四篇短篇小說〈旁觀者〉，主要講述了主角兼敘述者在被診斷出患有抑鬱症和呼吸困難後經歷了由人類逐漸變形為玫瑰花叢的奇妙經歷。作者運用玫瑰花叢和女人的共生形象來挑戰質疑傳統文化規範的獨霸單一性，以及變形可能帶來的自由。本論文將結合凱瑟琳．馬拉布的「可塑性」概念以及德勒茲和瓜達悉的「生成」概念重新構建變形的概念用以論證〈旁觀者〉中主角－敘述者的變形乃瑪拉布所言的「新的生命形式」。透過變形協助其由「不可能逃逸」現況的窘境中獲得新的逃逸路線，也同時揭示傳統文化規範的脆弱性，促使主角－敘述者重新獲得生活的平靜，並以另一種方式認識與聯結自身於世界。

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