閾限概念與戲劇研究之初探

The Concept of the Liminal and Dramatic Studies: A Preliminary Investigation

人類學者維特．特納和戲劇這個領域有個雙向互動的借貸關係。一方面，特納挪借了西方傳統戲劇的概念來發展關於儀式、社會衝突與文化轉型的理論；另一方面，他和戲劇學者理查．謝喜納兩人對於「表演性」的探索，最終促成了一個新興學門於1980年代的崛起──表演研究。「閾限」，是特納的學說裡重要的概念，大致用來形容傳統部落社會裡儀式的某個階段。為了讓它和現代社會的活動有所區分，特納提出了「類閾限」的概念。他認為，面對工業社會個人主義色彩濃厚的情境，閾限已不足解釋諸如文學、藝術、戲劇、球賽、演唱會等等場合。有趣的是，受到特納的啟發，閾限概念被廣泛運用於社會研究、文化研究和表演研究，然而類閾限概念卻未受重視。本文主要討論，在戲劇研究領域，這兩個概念於運用上所涉及的議題，尤其是閾限概念對於文本研究的助益，以及類閾限因分類上的問題而造成的困擾。

Anthropologist and social theorist Victor Turner had a two-way relationship with the field of drama. On the one hand, he borrowed the concept of drama from traditional Western theatre to develop his theories on ritual, social conflict, and cultural transformation. On the other hand, Turner's close collaboration with Richard Schechner to explore aspects of performativity led to the rise of performance studies in the 1980s. The liminal, one of the key terms in Turner's conception, is used to describe a particular phase of rituals in tribal and feudalistic societies. To differentiate similar occasions in industrial societies from tribal rituals, Turner proposed another term, the liminoid, which encompasses activities such as literature, art, theatre, sports, and musical concerts. Interestingly enough, whereas “the luminal” has been applied extensively in social studies, cultural studies, and performance studies, “the liminoid” has received little critical attention, if not been completely abandoned. The purpose of this paper is to discuss key aspects concerning the application of these two terms to the study of dramatic texts.