病毒世紀：《至樂園》的末世想像與救贖希望

The Viral Century: Apocalyptic Imaginary and Hope for Redemption in To Paradise

二十一世紀初的SARS 疫情因為從亞洲開始傳播，致使亞裔人民與瘟疫／病毒產生不健康、歧視性的連結，也促使亞裔美國作家書寫有關種族化的瘟疫故事，特別是推想小說文類的創作，藉之反思「生物病毒」所帶來的翻天覆地之變化如何暴露了「社會病毒」的侵蝕。本文以日裔美國作家柳原漢雅的《至樂園》(2022)作為亞裔美國推想小說書寫疫情的範本，探討生物與社會病毒對於人類社會的雙重衝擊。《至樂園》以三部曲的方式想像另類美國歷史，呈現十九世紀至二十一世紀想像中的美國。柳原之所以野心勃勃地選擇書寫橫跨三個世紀的美國，是企圖以推想小說的形式檢驗國家「體質」，進行一種生物社會的批判計畫。論文聚焦分析小說的第三部分〈第八區〉(“Zone Eight”)所再現的末世想像，以及弱勢╱異類族群──包括弱勢族裔、失能者以及非異性戀者──如何在種族主義、殖民主義、性別與性向歧視，乃至於各種瘟疫橫行的不友善、甚至嚴酷的環境之中尋求生存與救贖。論文第一部分簡單介紹疫病書寫、亞裔美國推想小說以及柳原創作的脈絡，第二部分及第三部分則分別探討柳原如何透過科學家以及失能者之雙重觀點，描述惡劣的生物環境之下產生的極端社會反應，並且經由關係網絡的書寫，在極度反烏托邦的世界中植入追求救贖的願景，作為對於不好客的國家社會之終極反抗。

At the start of the twenty-first century, the spread of the SARS epidemic from Asia created a discriminatory link between peoples of Asian descent and viral infection. This unfortunate and “unhealthy” association prompts Asian American authors to write about the racialization of epidemics, particularly in the genre of speculative fiction, reflecting on how a world drastically transformed by biological viruses can expose the erosion of social viruses. This paper uses Japanese American writer Hanya Yanagihara’s To Paradise (2022) as an example to explore how Asian American writers deploy speculative fiction to respond to the overpowering presence of pandemics in human society and explore the dual impact of biological and social viruses. To Paradise, with its tripartite structure, presents an alternative history of the United States spanning from the nineteenth century to the late twenty-first century. This paper argues that Yanagihara ambitiously chooses to write about an imagined America to examine the “constitution” of the nation-state and carry out a biosocial critique of American society. The analysis focuses on the apocalyptic vision presented in Part Three of the novel, “Zone Eight,” and the ways in which marginalized/alienated groups—including ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and non-heterosexual groups—struggle to survive and redeem themselves in inhospitable, even harsh environments plagued with racism, colonialism, sexism and infectious diseases. The first section of the paper briefly introduces the significance of plague writing, Asian American speculative fiction and the context of Yanagihara’s creative work. The second and third sections delve into Yanagihara’s exploration of how harsh biological environments serve as justifications for authoritative regimes to implement extreme social measures. This examination is presented through the perspectives of a virologist and a woman with a disability, respectively. Additionally, Yanagihara envisions a potential redemption for a dystopic world with the creation of interdependent relational networks, which offer the ultimate resistance against an inhospitable society.