浪蕩天涯：劉吶鷗一九二七年日記

The Flaneur of the World: Liu Na-ou’s 1927 Diary

由劉吶鷗一九二七年日記中透露的訊息，本文嘗試探討他的家世背景，修訂了學界自嚴家炎的《中國現代小說流派史》(1989)以來的認識。吶鷗的出身、家庭、教育、交往，以及他在中、日各大城市中游學的經歷，反映出日據時代臺灣知識分子為求知、求發展，不得已浪游天涯，在二、三○年代錯綜複雜的中、日、臺關係間，游走於危險邊緣，導致他一九四○年被刺的命運。由日記中吶鷗和女性的關係看來，可進一步了解新感覺派的浪蕩子美學。在他心目中，除了「母性」孕育子女的天職外，女性純粹是性愛象徵，她們的存在只是為了取悅男性，完全沒有能力從事智性和精神方面的活動。這樣的女性觀點事實上反映出浪蕩子無可救藥的男性沙文主義；他們縱情聲色，樂於與歡場女子為伍，卻對女人的性慾視同蛇蠍，患了典型的「女性嫌惡症」。他們裝扮入時，行事風格表現出對物質的無限依賴，在作品中卻只能描寫女人的外在形象，無法深入理解女人的感情和心靈世界。吶鷗的上海經驗展現出他對文藝的執著和嚴肅態度，他的北京之旅則顯示出他作為一個浪游者的美學經驗。他徘徊於都市的街道巷弄、歌臺舞榭，四處閒逛，記錄所見所聞。他是觀察家，從事的是一種由外在描寫事物的藝術；他的描寫對象是時空所限定的物質，但轉化為文字後卻是亙古不變的美感，是精神的饗宴。由日記中可以看出他是個神經質的文藝青年，頗類似郁達夫筆下的神經衰弱青年。在閱讀上他偏好創造社的作品，但不喜文學研究會的作品。他喜讀法文書，卻認為美國人的文學根本不值一提。他對日本新感覺派的評價是「只可看風格，內容無聊」，這事實上也點出了上海新感覺派的傾向。吶鷗在精神上和地理上跨越國界浪蕩天涯，卻不能見容於國家主義、民族主義掛帥的國際社會。

Through the messages conveyed in his 1927 diary, this article traces Liu Na-ou's family background, while correcting the misconceptions formed since Yan Jayan's History of the Schools of Modern Chinese Fiction (1989). Liu's identity, family, education, friendships, and his experiences while studying in the big cities of China and Japan reflect the life of the Taiwanese intellectual during the Japanese occupation as a flaneur of the world. Facing the complicated relations among China, Japan, and Taiwan, he walked on the verge of danger and was murdered in 1940. From Liu's relationships with women as disclosed in the diary, one can understand better the aesthetics of the Neo-Perceptionist dandy. In Liu's mind, woman, besides her natural endowment of being a mother, is purely a sex symbol. Unable to pursue activities connected with the intellect and the spirit, her existence is dedicated to the pleasure of men. This conception of women in fact reflects the irrevocable male chauvinism of the dandy. He indulges in sensual pleasures and seeks the company of women of loose virtues, and yet, afflicted by misogyny, he considers women's sexual desire as vice. He is fashionably dressed, and depends infinitely on material culture. As a rule he describes women from the outside, not being able to understand their feelings and spiritual world. His Shanghai experiences disclose his serious attitudes toward art, while his travel to Beijing reflects the aesthetics of the flaneur. He frequents the streets and the dance halls of the big city, recording what he sees and hears while sauntering aimlessly. He is an observer, engaged in the art of describing things from the outside. The objects of his description are materials confined by time and space, and yet they become objects of beauty and spiritual feasts in his works. From the diary we can see that Liu is a neurotic young man dedicated to art and literature, very much similar to the young men victimized by neurasthenia in Yu Ta-fu's works. Liu loves to read works by the members of the Creation Society, but he detests those by the writers of the Society of Literary Study. He likes French works, and does not think American literature worth mentionining. He thinks the Japanese Neo-Perceptionist works “passable in style, but boring in content.” This commentary can actually also be applied to the works by their Shanghai counterparts. Having crossed the boundaries of nations through his pursuit of art and through trips in different countries, he became a target of the international communities of Shanghai where strict nationalism reigned.