帝國奇觀：英國近代早期歌劇中之殖民與族裔想像

Spectacles of Colonial Empire: Imagining the Aboriginals in British Early Modern Operas

奇觀的建構可以追溯至希臘羅馬時代，但大航海時期（Age of Discovery，十五至十七世紀），歐洲人的異地經驗和好奇心的驅使，卻牽動了奇觀的濫觴。丹麥教授渥姆（Ole Worm,1588-1654）的珍奇博物館（Museum Wormianum）除具知識整理與記錄文明的功能，更將收藏文化建構為歐洲文明與奇觀文化的元素。英國女王依莉莎白一世和國王詹姆士一世時代，劇場中的奇觀多以異族作為立基，其中尤以班‧強生（Ben Jonson）等人造就的宮廷舞劇和節慶表演為呈現奇觀場景最主要的處所，奇觀也成為君王自我宣傳機制。隨著十七世紀歌劇興起，歌劇中的奇觀逐漸發展成為視覺享受和獨特的美學，此時奇觀的規模不僅更加開展，各類族裔身體的呈現竟成為殖民理念表達的途徑和吸引劇場觀眾的策略。英國族裔奇觀中最富盛名的是作曲家普賽爾（Henry Purcell）和柯曼（George Colman the Younger, 1762-1836）將西印度群島史料〈巴貝多斯的歷史紀錄〉（A True and Exact History of the Island of Barbadoes）中，有關印可與雅芮柯（Inkle and Yarico）故事改編為歌劇。英國現代前期以奇觀為主體的歌劇族裔劇場，將想像的殖民地景觀、歷史、異國風情、殖民理念以及被殖民者與英國殖民者的關係搬上舞台，拼貼成帝國欲求的論述。

The construction of spectacles for entertainments can be referred to the Greek and Roman periods when the public spectacles were intended for political purposes. During the European Age of Exploration, exploration initiated by the maritime powers brought up the culture of curiosities and the construction of the foreign on the stage. The spectacle culture was a mechanism for courtly entertainment and political propaganda during the period of Queen Elizabeth I and especially of King James I of Britain. With material culture as a fashion, operatic performances in the late seventeenth century and the eighteenth century cultivated a spectacle culture that brought in ethnography of aborigines as well as colonial discourses. Exploring the major playwrights in early modern Britain, this paper explores the spectacles of aboriginals in operas written by Purcell, D'Avenant, and Coleman and analyzes the visual representation of ethnic tribes as a part of colonial discourse in the formation of the British empire.