維多利亞時期的鐵道意象－－以狄更斯的〈信號員〉與兩幅當代畫作為例

The Railway Images in the Victorian Period -A Study of ＂The Signal-Man＂ and Two Contemporary Paintings

自一八三○年第一列以蒸汽動力拖曳的載客列車由英國的利物浦至曼徹斯特通車以來，鐵道及其周邊設施深深地影響人類生活的各個層面。首當其衝的維多利亞時期則在其生活形態與社會結構面臨前所未有的轉變與挑戰。鐵道固然代表科技進步與發展，提供先前無法想像的高效率溝通與運輸方式。然而，鐵道也威脅許多維多利亞人們所珍惜的傳統生活方式與價值。它不但加劇人際間的疏離感，淡化人們對地域的歸屬感，同時也間接促使家庭與社會的脫序。處於這種瞬息萬變的鐵道世界中，個人愈來愈難找尋到自我的定位。本文以狄更斯的〈信號員〉(“The Signal-Man”)為主軸，佐以特納的《暴雨、蒸汽與速度》(Rain, Steam and Speed)與艾格的《旅行的同伴》(The Travelling Companions)兩幅畫作，來討論維多利亞時期的鐵道意象以及人們對其所持的矛盾情結。狄更斯的小說對鐵道大都採取敵對的態度。然而，他有時也不得不承認鐵道所帶來的正面效益。特納與艾格的兩幅畫則將此矛盾具象化。本文的分析同時也顯現鐵道情懷在維多利亞文化中的獨特性。

Since the inauguration of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway (L&MR) in 1830, Victorian life and society had encountered an unprecedented transformation and challenge. On the one hand, the railway was a positive symbol of mechanical progress and technological advancement, introducing a hyper-efficient way of communication and transportation unimaginable in the previous decades. On the other hand, railway threatened the cherished ways of life and deep-rooted traditions, especially in the rural areas. It not only sharpened a sense of alienation and dislocation but also accelerated the derailment (physically and mentally) of family and social life, making it more difficult to assert one's identity in a changing world. This article used Charles Dickens's ＂The Signal-Man＂ and two contemporary paintings--Turner's Rain, Steam and Speed and Egg's The Travelling Companions--to explore the railway images and people's ambivalent attitudes in the Victorian period. In most of Dickens's works, especially in his short story ＂The Signal-Man,＂ railway and its often hellish images served mainly as a negative catalyst for rural disintegration and human alienation. Though Dickens and many of his contemporaries recognized the ill effects of the railway, they had to acknowledge its benefits at the same time. Such ambivalence towards railway constituted a unique feature of the Victorian culture.