德昆西亞洲書寫中「能」的論述

歐洲於十八、十九世紀之交，因醫學、人類學與科學論述興起，談論種族、身體與膚色的關連，尤以東亞地區與蒙古人種的相關性，一方面重新建立蒙古人種的侵略性，一方面重新強調其未開化的心智與落後，主宰了歐洲優勢對東亞的種族思潮（racial thinking）；而這樣的種族思潮，不僅再度強調了歐洲中心（Eurocentric）的本位主義，並為十九世紀種族主義、殖民主義、帝國主義的興起，提供了貌似科學的背書與正當性藉口。在此脈絡下，本文欲以英國散文家湯姆士．德昆西（Thomas De Quincey）的作品《一位英國鴉片癮君子的自白》（The Confessions of an English-opium Eater）為主要分析文本，講述作者使用鴉片的經驗與想像。作者在《自白》中，展現服用鴉片所產生的、不同面向的能：鴉片先是產生驅策身體的「動能」（mobility），「才能」（capability）與「權能」（power）也應運而生；然而成癮之後，「動能」不再，「才能」與權能也隨之而滅。除《自白》外，德昆西作品多次處理亞洲題材，包括〈喀幕克塔塔人的反叛〉（“The Revolt of the Kalmuck Tartars”），以及稍後的政治散文〈鴉片與中國問題〉（“The Opium and the China Question”），以及〈中國（一）〉〈中國（二）〉（“China（I）”&“China（II）”）等，討論隨著都市的拓展與帝國的擴張，作者的英國身份與歐洲文化認同如何面對亞洲的存在。本文將聚焦德昆西如何在其筆下的亞洲主題作品中，展現能的多重面向。值得注意的是，在作者筆下，能的多重面向，恰恰回應至當代歐洲對於亞洲——尤其是中國——態度的轉向。一如鴉片初始賦予作者的「增能」（empower）效力，在成癮的過程中，使得作者的身體成為「失能」（disabled）或「無能」（incapable）的狀態。也因之，在德昆西筆下，講述的其實是歐洲在政治、經濟以及軍事上充滿了「動能」，而用以侵略失能或無能的亞洲，使亞洲淪為文風不動（immobile）、任人魚肉的慾望對象。 At the turn of the nineteenth century, medical, anthropological and scientific discussions emerged and popularised the connections among race, body, and skin colours in Europe. The association between the Mongolians and the East Asia was particularly noteworthy, because Europe's strong emphases on the aggressive and the “uncivilised” nature of the Mongolians not only gave rise to the Euro-centric racial thinking but also provided a seemingly convincing standpoint and legitimacy for the later development of racism, colonialism, and imperialism. This article aims to scrutinise Thomas De Quincey's experience and imagination with opium use in his The Confessions of an English Opium Eater (1821) in such contexts. In Confessions, the drug at first is an agent that empowers the writer, giving rise to his capability and power. Yet progressively, as the addiction kicks in, the drug becomes a destructive force that makes the writer suffer both physically and psychologically, rendering the writer disabled and incapacitated. In De Quincey's other essays about Asia, such as “The Revolt of the Tartars,” “The Opium and the China Question,” along with “China (I)” and “China (II),” he seeks to deal with his English identity as he faces Asia in an age of urban and empirical expansion. This article will focus on the various aspects of “ability” in De Quincey's writings about Asia. It is noteworthy that in De Quincey's writings, the various aspects of ability correspond well to the shift in contemporary Europe's attitudes towards Asia-especially China. With De Quincey's opium addiction, the opium falls from an empowering agent to a destructive force that renders the writer's body disabled or incapable. It is therefore my attempt to shed light on how Asia and China were often reduced to a desired object made immobile, disabled, and powerless by European powers, and were in need of European political, economic, and even military intervention in De Quincey's writings.