司各特《蓋伊．曼爾寧》與高地清地運動：以吉普賽人的遭遇對照蘇格蘭高地人的苦難哀歌

Walter Scott's Guy Mannering and the Highland Clearances: From the Suffering of the Gypsies to the Elegy of the Scottish Highlanders

瓦爾特．司各特創作的絕大多數小說，皆以知名的歷史事件做為故事的背景，只有極少數，例如本文關注的《蓋伊．曼爾寧》，指向當代的社會議題。《蓋伊．曼爾寧》講述一群世代與蘇格蘭民眾相互依存的吉普賽人，遭到地主以社會進步之名，被迫離開家園的事件。然而上述事件所暗指的，或許是與司各特同時期，發生在蘇格蘭高地的清地運動。十八世紀中葉開始，數以萬計的高地佃農，遭地主驅離世代賴以為生的土地，取而代之的是具有更高經濟價值的黑面羊。司各特藉由這部小說批判社會現代化背離了蘇格蘭舊有的傳統，也藉著這群以梅格．梅里莉絲為首的吉普賽人暗喻高地人遭受本國政府如同殖民一般的對待。《蓋伊．曼爾寧》所撰寫的，是蘇格蘭的百年創傷史，此一創傷史直至今日都是研究蘇格蘭近代歷史與文學不可或缺的珍貴材料。

Many Walter Scott's works are historical novels. However, Guy Mannering, the focus of this paper, is among the few of Scott's novels that deal with contemporary social issues. A main episode of the novel concerns the expulsion of gypsies whose leader is Meg Merrilies. The novel reflects on the widespread displacement of the agricultural poor particularly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the name of improvement. In the Highlands of Scotland those events are now well remembered as the “Highland Clearances.” This process was viewed as the inexorable progress of the society, which not only altered traditional social structures but also threatened the perceived core values of Scottish society. It is this paper's intention to reveal the significance of Meg Merrilies, who gives voice to those who are subject to the hegemony of the ruling classes. Embodying the subaltern in society, Merrilies' story is highly suggestive of colonial deeds at home and abroad although she is often regarded as having a mere subordinate role in this novel. Guy Mannering records the trauma that rural Scotland suffered from agricultural improvement. This history is an essential and pertinent episode to those who intend to study the modern history and literature of Scotland.