性別化的聲音與再現：去勢男高音與前現代的性別常規

Gendered Voice and Its Representation: Castrati and Premodern Gender Norms

10.6206/SIS.202401_14(2).0001

李碩(Shuo Lee)

去勢男高音 ； 性別 ； 歌劇 ； 再現 ； 聲音 ； Castrati ； Gender ； Opera ； Representation ； Voice

性學研究

14卷2期（2024 / 01 / 01）

1 - 17

繁體中文;英文

面對17世紀至18世紀間活躍於歐洲歌劇舞台上的去勢男高音，現代文化評論家或學者多半對其抱持恐懼、厭惡或獵奇之心，將他們視為病態的匱乏。但許多文獻記載顯示，當時的音樂家或聽眾反而在去勢男高音的聲音中體驗崇高或高貴的陽剛精神。本文主張，去勢者之聲所產生的反應落差來自前現代與現代的性別常規，及從後者衍生的「性別化的聲音」。藉由分析前現代的性別常規（即「一性論」），作者指出：去勢男高音在17世紀至18世紀的流行，是特定脈絡下的產物，更重要的是，他們憑藉高音所扮演的舞台角色正符合當時的性別常規。如何以有別於性別化的聲音之現代角度理解去勢男高音的歷史現象，並從中解構現代二元性別思維，正是本研究企圖展現的命題與精神。

The idea of gendered voice is a relatively recent construction, the existence of which has not appeared until the "primo Ottocento" (i.e., the 1830s). Prior than the appearance of gendered voice, castrati's high voice dominated the operatic scene in most European societies. Musicians and audiences of the 17th and 18th centuries accepted and welcomed the castrated voice by assigning important heroic roles to castrati. This paper seeks alternative historical explanations of the popularity of castrati in the 17th and 18th century opera scenes by analyzing the gender norms of premodern Europe. The author suggests that it is because the one-sex model reigned the medical, social, and legal knowledge of human sexes during the premodern period, the production of castrati and their voice, rather than triggering the sense of castration anxiety as a symptom of the modern psychic, were taken as a special phenomenon relating to experiences of religious salvation and highness. It is at the cross-point of salvation and highness that the author argues castrati's voice not only suits the roles of heroes they played, but also requires a new lens through which the idea of gendered voice may be reconsidered.