詩學之於生命恆餘：阿甘本論述中詩學藝術作為生命－－形式典範之可能

A Poetic Life of Potentiality: Poetry as a Paradigm of Form-of-Life in Giorgio Agamben

本文旨在探究在阿甘本的著作中，詩學藝術如何作為生命－－形式（form-of-life）之典範（paradigm），指引生命的「恆餘」對抗主權「暴力」的可能。本文分成六部分：頭兩部分先說明阿甘本著作中，「生命」與「餘」之間的兩種不同關連，勾勒其所謂生命－－形式、典範等概念，並解釋生命－－形式如何也是某種「典範生命」（paradigmatic life），因此可以成為某種生命恆餘。再來，則回顧阿甘本對亞里斯多德（Aristotle）與但丁（Dante Alighieri）的閱讀，以釐清西方思想中能力（potentiality）與作為（activity）兩者與生命政治問題的關係，並藉此提出某種得以呈現、保存餘力的生命－－形式運作。第四部分回到阿甘本對於現代性美學與語言能力的討論，說明詩學對於生命－－形式實踐的重要性。接著，本文聚焦詩學經驗如何對生命產生質變，發展出某種詩學公共生命，抗衡主權的暴力機制。最後，本文將略談阿甘本論述中烏托邦傾向的問題，說明其政治構想其實是種「非－－非烏托邦」（non-non-utopian）。

In this essay, I examine how Giorgio Agamben assigns poetry a paradigmatic status in his “form-of-life”—a positive, inexhaustible potentiality (potenza) inherent in life that resists the violence of the biopolitical sovereignty. First, I review how sovereign power (potere) and life are put into play in Agamben, and expound on his definition of form-of-life as a life of potentiality. Then, I turn to his conception of paradigm and address how form-oflife also takes the form of a paradigmatic life. Next, I discuss his critique of the biopolitical logic implied in Aristotle and explain how he, borrowing from Dante, constitutes form-of-life as a politics of (im-)potentiality and (in-)activity, or of an (in-)operativity which both exposes and conserves potentiality. After that, I move to Agamben’s writings about aesthetics, poetry, and language in modernity. The purpose is to demonstrate how poetic language exemplifies a linguistic use that restores human language to its potential state and thus suggests an access to form-of-life. In the fifth part, I broach how poetry contributes to a new life beyond the shadow of death and negativity implied by biopolitics and to a possible poetic community beyond the logic of sovereign dispositif. The key is: to experience the poetic use of language is to live a poetic life, a potential form-of-life realized both singularly and commonly. In the end, I will clarify the “non-non-utopian” stance of Agamben’s political thinking.