金塞拉棒球小說中的異常身體與神話詩學

'The Enfreakment of the Sporting Bodies in W. P. Kinsella's The Iowa Baseball Confederacy''

美國當代小說家金塞拉以精彩的棒球小說聞名，然而他的作品中卻經常出現與傳統運動書寫截然不同的怪誕、病態、混種異類身體的意象，本篇論文即以《愛荷華棒球聯盟》為例，討論這篇小說中的巨人（北美原住民戰士Drifting Away）與侏儒（芝加哥小熊隊吉祥物Little Walter）角色。仔細考察美國棒球文化史會發現，金塞拉對運動員身體的畸異化、殘缺化其實大大顛覆了棒球代表的美國核心價值觀，例如崇拜陽剛、強身建國的美國國族主義理想，在宗教與醫學論述雙重影響下對於神聖的潔淨的追求，以及奮鬥競爭、爭取成功的「美國夢」神話等等。然而，另一方面，金塞拉筆下的怪物運動員卻又隱含另一層神祕的、甚至神聖的高度：巨人與侏儒角色不但能上溯西方上古神話的巨神與地精傳統，也可能與北美原住民部族的巨人神話、「搗蛋鬼」民俗傳說以及「神聖小丑」的儀式傳統有所關聯。如此，金塞拉實則恢復了怪誕身體在前現代思維中曾有過的傳達神諭、體現奇蹟的超越性意義，對抗啟蒙理性與科學論述致力於掃除蒙昧、排除異常的知識論暴力。金塞拉的棒球小說因此獨樹一幟地昇華了世俗化、商業化的現代運動賽事，將之回歸到其原型－帶有深刻宗教／性靈意義的古老遊戲原初形式之中。

W. P. Kinsella has unrolled peculiar imagination about bodies in many of his baseball tales. In this article, I focus on his fascination about the freakish bodies and investigate their meanings in the context of sports narratives. I explore the mythologized Giant and Dwarf in The Iowa Baseball Confederacy, focusing on the Native American giant warrior Drifting Away and the Chicago Cubs' mascot dwarf Little Walter. The freakish sporting bodies in Kinsella's work--being disease-stricken, deformed, alien, hybrid and so forth--are apparently not conformable to the ideals of American nationalism, rural ''purity'' and holy cleanliness which classic American baseball literature has often eulogized. These disturbing figures constitute what I regard as the enfreakment of sporting bodies, which is essentially against the American baseball myths. On the other hand, I am to reveal the other, opposite and potentially redemptive aspect of Kinsella's freakish bodies. A considerable part of his fantasies about human bodies draw on mythical and religious traditions; however, they are not exclusively based on the spiritual heritages of the whites, the Europeans or the Judeo-Christians. Drifting Away could be drawn from Native American Giant myths and also embodies essential characteristics of the Tricksters. We could also discern in Little Walter fundamental traits of Native American sacred clowns. Kinsella's innovative rendering of the Giant and the Dwarf reveals his attempt to recover mythicity and holiness in these fabulous bodies, which have been disenchanted by overriding scientific/medical discourses. Kinsella might intend to, I argue, indicate the latent propensity for religiosity and sacredness in the ancient form of play/game that is hoped to redeem the overly secularized and hallowed modern world.