英文摘要 |
The past and present of Taiwan's indigenous people have long been entangled in the conflicts and synthesis of modern civilization and their traditional cultures. One of the deep-rooted and significant impacts is that the core values that used to hold the indigenous people together have undergone almost irrevocable changes. One concrete and discernible phenomenon of the impact is the cultural paradigm shifts that have taken place in Taiwan's indigenous tribes. This includes how the indigenous cultures regard and assess illnesses, which not only affects the future of the tribe as a whole, but is also closely connected to the well being of the individual. However, such cultural paradigm shifts, which involve at the same time acculturation on both sides and competition for the dominance of discourse, are precisely the paradox that exists for the minority groups now, as they face the wave of globalization and often vacillate between submission to colonization and full recognition of their own tradition. Essays on Medical Practice in Lanyu (Lan yu xing yi ji), a collection of essays that has a significant influence on the modern literature of the Tao tribe, is more than random essays jotted down by the author as he practiced medicine in Lanyu. In the text, some of the important linguistic symbols found in modern and traditional writings on illness on this tropical island keep reoccurring, such as “local health center,” “doctor,” “devil,” “evil spirit,” and “anito” (meaning “evil spirit” in Tao). On the one hand, these symbols are self-assertive in the text of Essays on Medical Practice in Lanyu; on the other hand, the dialectics between different textual symbols demonstrates their intertextuality and the significance of their culture languages. Consequently, through the process of transformation between the signifier and the signified, the covert ideological criticism and the actual changes as implicitly expressed in the textual symbols are thus disclosed. |