靈光，不靈光：數位媒介複製時代中的戲劇表演——論「現場性」及「靈光」的消逝與轉化

Aura or Without Aura: The Dramatic Performance in the Age of Digital and Mediatized Reproduction—An Essay on the Disappearance and Transformation of “Liveness” and “Aura”

當戲劇表演遇上數位化媒介，所揭示的是一個戲劇表演數位化、媒介化及相關產品、製作與資料庫數位媒介化時代的來臨。搭上網際網路的順風車，這一波新浪潮波濤洶湧，再加上新一波理論思潮的推波助瀾，戲劇表演的數位媒介化勢不可擋。這些理論不但質疑「現場性」的神聖性，挑戰其主體性與主場優勢，還試圖撼動並翻轉其不可取代性，進一步前呼後擁地將數位化與媒介化的表演文本推上新霸主的地位，敦促我們去重新思索表演藝術的本質及其與眾多媒介的關係。本論文將以重新閱讀班雅明的經典文章〈機械複製時代中的藝術作品〉（1936）為引子，來討論戲劇表演數位化與媒介化後，「現場性」與「靈光」的處境——是預示兩者的消逝？還是兩者的轉化？亦或是這兩個概念的命運已衍生或催生出新的戲劇表演生產與欣賞方式，並宣告新表演藝術時代的到臨？本論文將參酌相關理論，針對以上提問進行辯證與深入的討論。

When drama encounters digital media, what is portended is the coming of an era in which dramatic performances and their archives are fast becoming digitalized and mediatized. Riding the wave of the cyberculture and aided by the new wave of theoretical thinking, the digital mediatization of dramatic performances has become an unstoppable trend. These theories not only question the sacred nature of “liveness” but also challenge its irreplaceable dominant status. In the meantime, they promote and celebrate the democratic nature of the digitalized and mediatized performance text, urging us to re-think the nature of performing arts and their ties to multimedia. This paper intends to revisit the seminal article—“The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” (1936)—by Walter Benjamin and use it as a starting point to discuss the status of “liveness” and “aura” after the rise of the digital and cyber culture. Does this new trend foretell the decline and the eventual disappearance of both notions? Or does it trigger new ways of production and appreciation and pronounce a new era of performing arts? This paper looks into and explores the above-mentioned questions by drawing on related theories.