〈散戲〉、〈最後夜戲〉中的歌仔戲文化與性別政治

The Culture of Taiwanese Opera and Gender Politics in ''Drama Dissembled'' and ''The Last Evening Show''

洪醒夫（1949-1982）的〈散戲〉（1978）與陳若曦（1938-）的〈最後夜戲〉（1961）是台灣小說中再現歌仔戲文化與演員生活的經典作品。隨著時代環境的變遷，小說中的戲班成員成為現代社會中的從屬階級，在作品中呈現某種程度的「失聲」或「失語」的狀態。然而，男女兩性在歌仔戲班的位置及處境並非完全相同，本文將以〈最後夜戲〉和〈散戲〉為主要文本，分析小說中男、女成員的再現有怎樣的差異？兩性的身體、話語、敘述和歌仔戲文化、鄉土建構間形成哪些不同的關係？檢視歌仔戲演員「失聲」、「失語」與「失身」的痕跡，探討以歌仔戲文化所代表的台灣鄉土建構和性∕別文化交纏的意識形態，以及其中的弔詭之處，據此進行反思。文中指出小說敘述往往在「緬懷（歌仔戲）過往輝煌」的「共同的記憶」中，男女兩性因為性別位置與權力關係的差異，其記憶與被記憶的方式，以及因應當下的行為、態度也有所不同。男性常沈湎於過去的輝煌與顯赫中，而對於當下的困境呈現「失語」的狀態；而女性作為團員則是呈現「失聲∕失身」的窘境，不僅須在戲台上做出不合宜的表演，更要在戲台外兼差維生；還有身為女人與人母的掙扎，每每在角色扮演及轉換間與他人、自我相衝突。這兩篇小說均投注了對母職的關注，然而兩者的走向大不相同，隱約透露了作家性別位置對母職與女性自我認同間的抉擇與價值觀的差異。本文將以性別政治批判性的角度重新審視〈散戲〉，並以〈最後夜戲〉作為參照來指出，探討這類小說時須將性別因素並置討論，避免讓小說中豐富多樣的訊息，完全籠罩在鄉土論述、民族主義的大傘之下，以釐清各項權力關係，找出更多失聲的從屬階級，進而建構融合重層歷史、性別政治、美學傾向等多元混雜的關係性論述。

Hong Xing-fu's ''Drama Dissembled'' and Chen Ruo-xi's ''The Last Evening Show'' are two classic works of fiction which represent the culture of Taiwanese opera and performers' lives in Taiwan. As time and social conditions change, performers in Taiwanese opera troupes have become the subaltern class in modern society, and are presented as ''voiceless'' or ''aphasic'' in the texts. However, social positions and situations of male and female members in Taiwanese opera troupes are not the same. This essay explores the different representations of male and female performers in ''The Last Evening Show'' and ''Drama Dissembled'', and discusses the formation of particular relationships between, on the one hand, gendered bodies, discourses, and narratives, and culture of Taiwanese opera, and the construction of native land/nation on the other. This essay aims to trace how these performers have been made voiceless, aphasic, and bodiless, in order to unpack the paradoxical intersections of Taiwan's native land/nation and gender/sexuality. These two texts both present a collective memory of ''reminiscing about the glorious past''. Nevertheless, the differences in genders and power relations influence how male and female performers remember the past, and how they are remembered by others. While male performers often indulge themselves in the glorious past, they are aphasic when facing current obstacles. On the other hand, female performers are put in the position of ''voiceless'' and ''bodiless''. They not only have to present unsuitable performances on stage, but also have to do part-time jobs to make a living. They even try hard to strike a balance between the role of an independent woman and that of a mother, resulting in contradictory relations between themselves and others. These two texts both focus on motherhood, but their different emphases seem to reveal how authors' gender identity affects female characters' view on motherhood and self-identity. This essay argues for a reconsideration of gender politics in ''Drama Dissembled'' and ''The Last Evening Show'', and attempts to clarify a variety of power relations. Gender factors in the two texts are explicitly identified to avoid messages being lost in umbrellas terms such as nativism and nationalism. It is hoped that by doing so, the voiceless subaltern class can be identified and a relational narrative of multi-faceted histories, gender politics, and aesthetics can be constructed.