失國情境下的生存突圍－－從《老爸的笑聲》再探卜婁杉的菲╱美書寫

Surviving the Stateless Condition-Reconsidering Carlos Bulosan’s Filipino/American Writings in Light of The Laughter of My Father

延續跨國主義所帶動的卜婁杉（Carlos Bulosan）研究菲律賓轉向，這篇論文討論卜婁杉在一九四四年出版、以故鄉呂宋島農村小鎮為背景的短篇小說集《老爸的笑聲》（TheLaughter of My Father）。《老爸的笑聲》與卜婁杉已成亞美研究經典的另一部作品《美國在心中》（America Is in the Heart）寫作、出版時間相去不遠；兩者一以美國為主要場景，一以菲律賓為主要場景，正清楚勾勒出菲律賓族群在美利堅帝國殖民發展過程中從菲律賓到美國被種族階級化的困境。這篇論文將《老爸的笑聲》的菲律賓呈現放在美國帝國擴張的歷史脈絡來考察，以闡明卜婁杉在一九四○年代所出版的這兩部作品如何相互呼應地彰顯美國帝國發展在海外以及境內連帶形成的種族與階級壓迫問題。論文並主張，《老爸的笑聲》凸顯生存韌性、以族群存續為宗旨的敘事觀點正反映了卜婁杉在菲律賓族群被剝奪國家身份的歷史情境下的思考朝向；從《老爸的笑聲》出發來考察卜婁杉的菲╱美書寫，有助於我們釐清卜婁杉流動於菲律賓、美國間的認同歸屬、而更充分闡述他的書寫╱行動。

Following the turn to the Philippines in recent Bulosan scholarship in the wake of transnationalism, this paper discusses The Laughter of My Father, a 1944 collection of short stories set in a farm village on Luzon, Bulosan’s hometown. The Laughter of My Father was written and published only a little earlier than America Is in the Heart, a classic in Asian American studies. These two 1940s texts, respectively set in the Philippines and in the United States in the large while resonating with each other, make a clearer observation of the situation of Filipinos as a racialized group when being read together. Situating The Laughter of My Father in the context of American imperialist expansion, this paper examines its representation of the Philippines, in juxtaposition with America Is in the Heart, with view to illuminating the racial and class oppression brought abroad as well as on the U.S. soil under the American imperialist development. It also argues, the folkloric narrative highlighting the resilience for survival reflects Bulosan’s major concern in this period of time as a response to the stateless condition into which Filipinos were thrown. Centering The Laughter of My Father in the exploration of Bulosna’s Filipino/American writing helps to clarify the positioning of Bulosan’s fluid identity between the United States and the Philippines and further illuminate his writing/activism.