泰戈爾與東方主義：聚焦於東西之辯的泰戈爾研究

Tagore and Orientalism: Tagore Studies as a Focus for East-West Debate

本文批判性地檢視泰戈爾（1861-1941）的公眾形象，以及對於他的不同研究範式的形成過程。回顧各種討論的意識型態基礎，本文試圖展示，百年來的泰戈爾研究，儘管有許多時間、空間、主題性的分化，但在深刻的理論層次上，它們大部分都與如何想像和定位亞洲有關，由此構成了多種型態的東方主義。本文序論闡述東方主義的概念並建立本文之方法論基礎；首節回顧泰戈爾在西方的成名過程，並檢討一九一三年的諾貝爾文學獎如何將他塑造成「東方使者」；第二節將印度與西方的泰戈爾研究對舉，指出儘管泰氏在這兩個世界的文化地位有天壤之別，但雙方的問題意識卻可以「東西文明」這條線索來貫串；第三節敘述泰戈爾訪問日本與中國的經歷，以及兩國後續的泰戈爾研究，如何受到其各自對於「亞洲」的認同感的影響；結論剖析在「泰戈爾的神秘化」、「泰戈爾研究之定型」及「東方之為一思想課題」這三個層次上，東方主義意識型態之無所不在的影響。

This essay adopts a critical approach to the making of Tagore's (1861-1941) public image and the concomitant studies of him. By exploring the ideological premises that have undergirded the historical and interpretive narratives of the Indian poet for a century, this paper demonstrates that many of the regional, temporal, and thematic ramifications of the topic are, on a deeper theoretical level, closely related to the different ways of conceiving and projecting the East, which constitute different types of Orientalism. The introduction discusses and lays the methodological groundwork for this Orientalism. Section 1 critically reviews the process of Tagore's rise to fame in the West, which by way of the 1913 Nobel Prize in Literature elevated him to the position of 'Eastern messenger.' Section 2 juxtaposes India's and the West's contrasting attitudes towards Tagore's cultural legacies; while relevant studies develop in different directions in the two parts of the world, the thread of 'East- West civilizations' is common to their problematics. Section 3 depicts Tagore's interaction with Japanese and Chinese intellectuals, and indicates how the conventions of Tagore studies in the two countries have been shaped by their respective identifications with 'Asia.' The conclusion delves into how Orientalism as an ideology permeates the three levels of 'the mythologizing of Tagore,' 'the crystallization of Tagore studies,' and 'the emergence of the East as an issue.'