荒謬劇喜感人物的幾種潛在閱讀

Possible Readings of the Comic Character in the Theatre of the Absurd

法國戲劇學家阿比哈雪德（Robert Abirached）在其著作《現代劇場中人物的危機》中詳盡分析西方戲劇在人物創造上的演變與原因，並強調人物的演變與文明的危機息息相關。準此，如果說現代劇場在人物的創造上有眾多創新，這似乎也代表了相較於過往，現代文明危機更為複雜與嚴重。作為現代戲劇重要代表之一的荒謬戲劇在人物創造上有何獨特之處？一直以來，評論家對荒謬劇人物的定位主要將之視為平板的人物，經常用「小丑」、「傀儡」或「幽靈」這些詞彙來指稱，而這也是荒謬劇人物可被視為喜劇人物的原因。縱然如此，荒謬劇人物與傳統喜劇人物有著重要的區別。本文的主要立論在於闡明荒謬劇人物的特殊性，特別要分析這些表面上看似膚淺與空洞的喜劇人物的深刻性與多面向性，藉以補充現存評論的不足。本論文將以哲學、心理學與美學三個面向來探索荒謬劇中的喜感人物，分析的對象為伊歐涅斯科（Eugène Ionesco）作品《椅子》（Les Chaises）與貝克特（Samuel Beckett）作品《終局》（Fin de partie）。此研究目的在於揭示荒謬劇人物在解讀上的種種潛在可能性，並希望有助於詮解荒謬劇在閱讀上的種種困惑。

In his book, The Crisis of the Character in the Contemporary Theatre, Robert Abirached analyzes the creation and evolution of dramatic character in the West. He emphasizes the close relationship between the crisis of civilization and the evolution of character. If modern drama seems to make a major contribution to the revolution of character, it demonstrates just that the crisis of modern civilization is more complicated and more serious than before. The theatre of the absurd is one of the most important types of modern drama. What is its specialty in the creation of character? Most literary critics consider its characters as ‘flat.’ They use terms, such as “clown,” “puppet,” and “phantom” to qualify them. That is the reason characters of the theatre of the absurd are considered comic characters. But in fact the nature of the comic in the theatre of the absurd is very different from previous genres. This study aims to reveal this specialty. By revealing the depth and the multiple dimensions of the comic character, which used to be considered as simple, empty and mediocre, this work aims at filling a gap in related research. This study takes Ionesco’s play, The Chairs, and Beckett’s play, Endgame, as examples. The approach of the analysis includes three aspects: philosophy, psychology and esthetics. This is one way to prove that the reading of the characters of the theatre of the absurd is full of possibility, and to eliminate the confusion in understanding them.