Time and Illness in Persuasion

Time and Illness in Persuasion

疾病敘事提供了文學與醫學對話的空間。病人的文字記錄著他們對時間的觀察，醫生的診斷分析著疾病如何影響人的身心狀態。本文嘗試以疾病論述的觀點閱讀珍．奧斯汀的晚期小說《勸服》，檢視奧氏如何探索此一次文類中的兩個重要元素：時間與身心關係（the body-mind relationship）。十九世紀初的英國社會對時間與疾病的觀點呈現有趣的雙重性（duality）。奧斯汀超越此二元對立的侷限，以更敏銳的思維詮釋時間與疾病的互動與交涉。《勸服》中的疾病起因於人在時光中的錯置（displacement/misplacement），但時間卻也同時是唯一的解藥。奧斯汀認為病患常常活在自己的象牙塔中，他們之所以無助乃因旁人無法了解其獨特的時間觀，也因為生病的感受難落言銓。時間與疾病縱然帶來孤寂與傷痛，但它們亦為蛻變成長的契機。時間與疾病的力量不只作用在人的身心，它更隱含了靈魂存在的必要性。奧氏此一觀點回應了當代科學與神學對生命起源的辯論。《勸服》是一虛構的疾病敘事卻也真實地反映其作者的疾病。病魔纏身的奧斯汀自知來日無多。因此她藉由書寫來砥礪自己，來重新審視健康的定義。

Illness narrative enriches and informs both literary studies and medical researches. This essay attempts to interpret Jane Austen’s last completed novel Persuasion as an illness narrative, involving both her creative efforts and real-life struggle. Early nineteenth- century England witnessed an engaging dichotomy in the conception of both time and diseases. In Persuasion, Austen interconnects time and illness, not least by exploring their causal and mutual-reinforcing relationship. This relationship leads Austen to ponder on humans’ predicament given their susceptibility to the (joint) power of time and illness and to postulate possible solutions. If humans’ bodies and minds are vulnerable, Austen implies, their souls are not. Austen’s hypothesis of the existence of the soul represents her participation in the contemporary scientific and theological debate concerning the origin of life. A fictional illness narrative in essence, Persuasion nevertheless reflects its author’s declining health. Through writing on illness, Austen seeks to mentally fortify herself when all medication proves ineffectual and to redefine health.