裸命與例外狀態：《洞》的災難想像

State of Exception and Bare Life: Imaging Disaster in ＂The Hole＂

二○○九年八月八日台灣遭受到莫拉克颱風的嚴重侵襲。經歷兩天兩夜暴雨肆虐後的台灣盡是橋斷路跨、屋倒人亡的慘狀，許多地區也淪為死屍遊魂佔據的孤島鬼域，災情之慘重甚至超過五十年前的「八七水災」。風災過後兩、三天，各大平面、電子媒體紛紛用「八八水災」為這一天命名。才不過數天，「八八水災」幾乎已確定成為一個事件，一段難以抹滅的創傷記憶，與「二二八事件」、「八七水災」或「九二一地震」等歷史性災難齊名。是巧合，或是歷史總以永劫回歸的方式展現自我，我們無從得知，但「八八水災」對我們似乎並不那麼陌生。在蔡明亮一九九八年的電影《洞》裡，我們看到影片與實際發生的「八八水災」存在著某種詭異的類同關係。歷經水患風災肆虐過後，我們應更能理解過去的這部電影所隱藏的「現在」意義。本文因此嘗試從災難角度重新閱讀《洞》。論文分成四部份，第一部份從「八八水災」後的歷史視角解釋《洞》所呈現的兩種災難：水災與「台灣病毒」。文中強調電影的災難不應簡化為個人的幻想層次，而應理解為台灣後現代社會的常態與真實。第二部份探討《洞》的空間再現。《洞》所呈現的是一個詭異、既熟悉又古怪異常的空間，我將從阿岡本（Giorgio Agamben）關於「例外狀態」（state of exception）的概念詮釋如此的空間。第三部份處理「非人化」問題。《洞》出現了一些有趣的人變動物或昆蟲的情節，在這些場景中，人大多未能真正超越封閉主體的限制，反而陷入不生不死，不像人也不像動物的狀態，阿岡本的「裸命」（bare life）很適合描述此一特殊生命樣態。但《洞》絕非一部完全絕望的電影，除了負面意義外，「非人化」其實有其積極正面涵義。我認為電影的歌舞表演部份展現了人與環境、身體與物質連結組裝的衝動，「非人化」到極致反而促成「新人類」的產生，論文最後一部份我將討論電影如何在災難與廢墟中窺見救贖的可能。

On August 8, 2009, Typhoon Morakot hit Taiwan, causing great damage to the island, especially the Southern Taiwan. A couple of days later, the term ＂August 8 flood disaster＂ began to be used to name this particular disaster. It reminded us of the ＂August 7 flood disaster＂ which occurred fifty years ago. In just a few days, the ＂August 8 flood disaster＂ almost becomes a historical event having the same weight as other natural or historical disasters, such as the ＂228 event,＂ ＂921 earthquake,＂ or ＂August 7 flood disaster.＂ The disaster, however, was strangely familiar to us. In Tsai Ming-liang's 1998 film, ＂The Hole＂, we found uncanny correspondences between fiction and reality, the past work and present situation. It seemed that the ＂real＂ and the ＂fictional＂ disaster cross-illuminated each other. This paper, therefore, attempts to reread The Hole in light of disaster. This paper is divided into four parts. The first part argues how the disaster in ＂The Hole＂ should be treated as a real, intrinsic part of Taiwan, rather than a mere fantasy. In the second part, I examine the peculiarity of the film's spatial arrangement. In ＂The Hole＂, the relation between the apartment building and the city at large is essentially a relation of ban, a relation in which inclusion and exclusion, inside and outside have become indistinguishable. The extraordinary state or space the characters live in can be well elucidated in terms of Giorgio Agamben's notion of the ＂state of exception.＂ The third section is an exploration of the weird, enigmatic characters in the film. Inspired by both N. Katherine Hayles's posthuman studies and Agamben's biopolitical theory, I argue how these characters are living in a kind of ＂bare life.＂ In such a state, the distinction between humans and animals disappears. ＂The Hole＂, however, is far from being a desperate film. In the final section, therefore, I attempt to bestow this ＂bare life＂ a certain potential for redemption. I would read the song and dance numbers not as fantasy but as allegory of the danger and pleasure of our posthuman present. Right in the scenes of catastrophe, we seem to see hope and redemption.