跨海旅行與敘述發現：康姆《北美之旅》中的新英格蘭

Voyaging across the Atlantic and Narrating Discovery: Peter Kalm's Delineation of New England in 'Travels in North America'

康姆（Peter Kalm）是一位十八世紀來自瑞典的自然科學家、植物學家、旅行與自然作家。1747年，他從瑞典的家鄉出發到北美旅行，意圖去探究、觀察、並記載北美的地理風貌、環境氣候、地形特徵、以及本土動植物等物種。康姆的代表作《北美之旅》（Travels into North America）是以旅行日記形式所書寫的自然史作品。此文主要剖析康姆的《北美之旅》如何為新英格蘭這片廣大無邊的「未知領土」書寫自然史，如何以科學方法來敘述發現，如何為早期美國的地理風貌及無數本土物種做第一手觀察與描述。然而，《北美之旅》在客觀的科學聲音之背後卻又如何交織夾雜著另一股主觀聲音—一股較強調欣賞自然與生態關懷的主觀聲音，進而顯露出康姆的旅行日記與美國十七、十八世紀清教徒作家筆下征服荒野的主流價值觀之文化差異。藉此探討，此文欲指出康姆的《北美之旅》實乃蘊釀後代環境保護與生態關懷意識的重要文本。

Peter Kalm's Travels into North America, both a travel diary and a work of natural history, is one of the most significant writings that delineate and record eighteenth-century New England. Focusing on Kalm's ”Travels into North America”, this article examines the following questions: In his travel journal, how does Kalm describe the North American colonies in the eighteenth century and report his scientific observations on the natural environment? How does ”Travels into North America” document North American landscapes, plants and animals and offer Kalm's fresh views of a strange new world? How does ”Travels into North America” record the environmental changes in eighteenth-century New England? By exploring the these questions, this study argues that through his natural historical discourse Kalm does not merely objectively narrate his scientific discovery of North America's natural world but also subjectivelydetails his responses to New England's wilderness and its nonhuman inhabitants. In this way, ”Travels into North America” displays Kalm's ecological awareness and hints at an incipient environmentalism.