視覺與觸覺的辯證接合：班雅民的閒遊者、視覺衝擊與神經支配

When the Visual Passes Dialectically into the Tactile: Walter Benjamin's Flâneur, Visual Shock, and Innervation

從《受薪大眾：威瑪德國的責任與娛樂》（The Salaried Masses: Duty and Distraction）到《奧芬巴哈與他那年代的巴黎》（Jacques Offenbach and the Paris of His Time），克拉寇爾（Siegfried Kracauer）已經透過對十九世紀的巴黎和二十年代的柏林所進行的社會文化觀察，體察到歐洲現代性中視覺觸覺化的文化景觀。無獨有偶的，班雅民（Walter Benjamin）筆下的閒遊者（flâneur）圖像也仿若星陣一般，結合了以視覺經驗為主的街頭觀察者、以及以觸覺經驗為主的蒐羅者（collector）這兩種形象，將視覺與觸覺的辯證接合濃縮在一個歷史的圖像上。從克拉寇爾的角度來看，班雅民的閒遊者可說是對現代都市文明最為真誠的體驗者。本文試圖以班雅民的閒遊者圖像中視覺與觸覺的辯證接合為起點，將閒遊者定位成一個辯證圖像，一個長期遭到遺忘的「不起眼的一小塊」（inconspicuous spot），而一旦二十世紀的我們「往回看」，就可以發現「未來」早已「雄辯滔滔地蘊藏於其中」。正因為班雅民筆下的閒遊者對歷史實狀展現如此高度的真誠性，在閒遊者的歷史圖像中有關如何避免視覺全面觸覺化與全面去觸覺化的拿捏，不僅「蘊藏」了人在二十世紀初期面對紛至沓來的視覺衝擊與創傷時，不該如何因應的重要分寸之外，班雅民更挪用佛洛依德早期的「神經支配」（innervation）理論，讓揉雜了蒐羅者形象的閒遊者圖像，也同時隱含了如何據用現代視覺衝擊、擦出未來「希望的火花」的開示。

Characteristic of the modern urban culture, according to Siegfried Kracauer, is the prevalence of the surface that is clearly visible but can hardly be seen through. The visible surface, in other words, evokes only tactile sensations. No matter whether it is in the Paris of the Second Empire or in the Berlin of the Weimar Republic, the modern visual culture all bears witness to the dialectical passing of the visual into the tactile. This paper will take Kracauer's thought-provoking observation as a point of departure, seeking to deal with Walter Benjamin's critical and productive reflections on the emerging visual culture. Via the dialectical image of flâneur, Benjamin points an accusing finger at the invalid reactions to the flurries of visual shocks that are caused by and testify to the general encroachment of tactile sensations on the visual experience. But the critical negation never suffices. Through the image of collector that has been woven into the physiognomy of flâneur, Benjamin also sees the potential of Freud’s theory of innervation for handling the head-on shocks and appreciates its instrumentality in preparing the ground for the proletarian appropriation of technology.