兒童文學不能說的祕密：論蔡宜容兒童小說中的情與愛

The Unspeakable Love and Desire for and of Children: A Reading of Yi-Rung Tsai’s Novels for Children

英國精神分析暨文化研究學者蘿絲（Jacqueline Rose）在其專書《彼得潘個案研究：論兒童文學的不可能》（The Case of Peter Pan; or, TheImpossibility of Children’s Fiction）中主張「成人與兒童之間存在不可能純真的關係」；蘿絲所謂不可能純真的關係，指的並非成人對兒童實際的情慾作為，而是成人對兒童的慾望。蘿絲認為「兒童文學顯然就在講這種關係，卻總是顧左右而言他，不願直指核心」。本論文同意蘿絲的觀點，但也認為在當代，童年的真相與成人情慾或許不必然是童書寫作的禁忌。越來越多童書直探兒童與成人的不可能關係，而臺灣兒文創作者蔡宜容的小說便是一例：蔡宜容作品《中美五街，今天20 號》（2010）、《癡人》（2011）主題皆圍繞成人如何戀物兒童、戀棧童年。本論文首先將爬梳和釐清蘿絲的論點，接著分析蔡宜容的小說如何刻畫成人對兒童的愛戀以及與兒童之間的情慾流動，並討論蔡宜容如何與兒童文學書寫傳統對話、協商，使其作一方面另闢書／殊途，另一方面卻仍保有童書況味。

Jacqueline Rose in The Case of Peter Pan; or, The Impossibility of Children’s Fiction (1984) contends that adults’ relations with children are never innocent. By making such a controversial statement, Rose does not suggest the existence of any actual sexual deeds, but emphasizes how children become adults’ objects of desire. Rose further argues that children’s literature apparently is about these relations of desire; nevertheless, by insisting on the innocence of childhood, it always shies away from acknowledging the truth. This essay agrees with Rose’s views; however, it also argues that adults’ desire for children may no longer be a taboo issue. More and more children’s books nowadays openly tackle this issue; for example, the novels written by Yi-Rung Tsai, a contemporary children’s books writer in Taiwan, reflect exactly this trend. Tsai’s recent works, The Obsessed (2010) and It Is the 20th on Zhongmei 5th Street (2011) both deal with adults’ fetishization of children. Focusing on these two novels, the essay attempts to enact a dialogue between Tsai’s novels and Rose’s view on childhood. Furthermore, it analyzes how Tsai negotiates with children’s literature conventions to remain within the familiar parameters of children’s literature while manages to stake out a distinctive style of her own.