「暴取天國」：跨越理性／非理性之藩離

The Violent Bear It Away: Crossing the Border of Reason/Unreason

奧康納的｢暴取天國｣已被公認為美國文學的經典，描述一個男孩對於接受或拒絕 先知使命之掙扎。在此小說中，奧康納展現美國南方小說家的特質，心繫並著墨於怪 誕畸零人的內心世界。過去對於她作品的評論，大多著重在宗教主題及黑暗人物的層 面。本研究探討此作品中，存在於心靈層面的理性與非理性的糾葛，引用傅柯「瘋狂 與文明」的論述，作為分析的理論基礎。根據傅柯的見解，理性與非理性的論述爭戰， 結果總是非理性被消音。在｢暴取天國｣中，理性與非理性這兩股勢力展開激烈的爭鬥， 結果為非理性取得最後的勝利，並導向心靈的啟蒙。在奧康納的小說世界中，非理性 透過暴力的手段，被賦予力量去挑戰主流的理性論述，而非傅柯所指稱，在西方文明 中被消音及邊緣化。本研究主要分兩部分。第一部分分析Tarwater家族的非理性特色。 第二部分闡釋Rayber和 Tarwater所代表的理性論述。作為理性及非理性的爭戰場域， 此小說打破兩者的界線，讓兩方展開精彩的交鋒辯證。本研究顯示，非理性具有正面 意義，在於它能轉化理性的自我，使其昇華成利他的自我，並透過去除自利的個人主 義，釋放出自他合一的宇宙大愛。

Recognized as a landmark in American literature, O'Connor's The Violent Bear It Away depicts a stark world haunted by religious frenzy. A boy's struggle of accepting or refusing the role of prophet being the central theme, this novel exhibits O'Connor's unique style as a Southern writer obsessed with the characters of grotesque and morbidity. While most critics discuss her religious theme and dark characters, this paper explores the inextricable entanglement of reason and unreason in human psyche by using Michel Foucault's Madness and Civilization as a theoretical framework. According to Foucault, the struggle of reason and unreason ends up the silencing of the latter. In The Violent Bear It Away, the two irreconcilable forces wage fierce war with the latter gaining the final triumph and leading to spiritual enlightenment. In O'Connor's fictional world, unreason is not silenced and marginalized as Foucault perceives in western civilization but empowered through violence to challenge the dominant discourses of reason and rationality. The contents of this paper are mainly divided into two parts. The first part analyzes the features of unreason as displayed by the Tarwater family. The second part illustrates the rational discourses derived from reason, with Rayber and Tarwater representing its power. As a locus of the struggle of reason and unreason, this novel blurs their boundary and involves them in dynamic interrogation with each other. This study reveals that unreason can be positive in the way that it transforms the rational self into an altruistic one through the breaking of ego boundary and the releasing of cosmic love.