饑荒死者：〈死者〉中之愛爾蘭大饑荒陰魂

The Famine Dead: Specters of the Great Irish Famine in “The Dead”

十九世紀中葉愛爾蘭的大饑荒是歐洲現代史上最悲慘的社會災難之一，更是現代愛爾蘭發展的分水嶺，其深遠影響持續超過一個世紀。詹姆斯‧ 喬伊斯繼承了此一文化記憶，把饑荒衝擊寫入作品。儘管〈死者〉中並未實際言及這場災難，故事中確實潛伏了饑荒鬼影：不僅大饑荒對於人口和文化的影響在故事中顯而易見，摩肯家的晚宴以及歌曲〈來自奧克林的少女〉亦喚起這場災難的聯想。本論文試圖從饑荒寓言的角度窺探〈死者〉中潛藏的饑荒陰影，說明喬伊斯筆下的愛爾蘭依然無法擺脫半世紀前悲劇所造成的創傷，持續迴避其存在及其揮之不去的陰影。喬伊斯故事中的「死者」可能隱含饑荒死者，而該災難在文本中的缺席更可能暗示其非常存在。無法安息的饑荒死者穿梭在摩肯家的晚宴上，要求被正視並且拒絕被遺忘。

One of the worst social catastrophes in modern European history, the midnineteenth-century Great Irish Famine was a watershed in the developmentof modern Ireland, its impacts lasting for well over a century. James Joyceinherited this cultural memory and incorporated impacts of the Famine intohis work. Despite the fact that the catastrophe is not explicitly mentioned in“The Dead,” specters of the Famine can be found lurking in the story: not onlyare its effects on demographic and cultural aspects manifest, but the feast atthe Morkans’ and the song “The Lass of Aughrim” evoke the calamitous event.In an attempt to investigate the Famine in “The Dead,” this paper argues thatJoyce allegorically depicts the Ireland which was still traumatized by a tragedythat occurred half a century before but remained evasive about its presence andits haunting ghosts. The dead in Joyce’s story could imply the Famine dead,and the absence of the catastrophe could suggest its very presence. The unstillFamine dead are amid the living in the Morkans’ dinner party, requesting to berecognized and refusing to fade into oblivion.