《鬼滅之刃》中的技術政治與共生願景

The Politics of Technics and the Prospect of Coexistence in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

《鬼滅之刃》主角竈門炭治郎和服上的市松紋，是深具代表性的日本花紋圖樣，隱含對世系繁榮的期待；2020 東京奧運會徽亦以組市松紋傳達各國超越差異共存共榮的願景。生命該以何種樣態延續下去、不同的生命體要如何共在，確為《鬼滅》透過人鬼之爭著意探討的主題。本文主張，《鬼滅》中錯綜複雜的醫、病、藥、毒關係，凸顯鬼化作為一種藥／毒例證，改寫個體健康與群體健康的定義，迫使人類社會系統重整，重新協商生命樣貌與共生倫理。本文援引史提格勒所談的「藥／毒」概念，尤其是他闡述康吉萊姆所談「動態生命健康」的部分，來探討化鬼技術所開啟的「雙重斷代更迭」，細究《鬼滅》共生藍圖的輪廓如何從中浮現，以及如何從鬼化作為藥／毒的角度看待生命延續的意義。本文並進一步指出，雖然鬼化所帶動的系統重整看似歸結於人、鬼與動物等各種生命體的永續共存，但卻以幽微的方式將怪物動物性屏除於外，《鬼滅》的共生願景因而可能還是「人性的，太過人性」。

Tanjiro Kamado, the main protagonist in Demon Slayer, wears a kimono with a black-and-green ichimatsu pattern that wishes for the prosperity of descendants. Also taking its inspiration from the ichimatsu pattern, the “Harmonized Checkered Emblem” of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics conveys the message of unity in diversity. These two meanings of the traditional Japanese pattern are explored in Demon Slayer, in which the battle between humans and demons involves determining whether different organisms can coexist and prosper together. This paper aims to probe into the intriguing treatment of medicine and illness in the manga. Special attention is devoted to how the advent of technique of demonization, originally meant as a medical intervention, transforms the notion of health at both the individual and social levels and prompts the emergence of an ethics of coexistence for new forms of life. Drawing on Bernard Stiegler’s interpretation of pharmakon and Georges Canguilhem’s idea of health of life as variability, this paper traces the process of “doubly ephocal redoubling” that begins with the appearance of the first demon and concludes with the creation of a new bond between humans and demons. However, the ethics of coexistence advocated in Demon Slayer may have limitations by leaving out monstrous animality.