相互滲透的親密倫理：王鷗行《此生，你我皆短暫燦爛》中的現代氣味想像與照護書寫

The Intimate Ethics of Permeability: Modern Imagination of Odor and Caring Writing in Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

本文以感官角度分析越裔美籍作家王鷗行（Ocean Vuong）的小說《此生，你我皆短暫燦爛》（On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous），藉指出氣味的關鍵存在，探詢全球化下氣味身分的混雜和滲透。小說運用書信體，重啟跟母親之間的（不可能的）溝通。書寫作為一種創造行動，想像歷史現場，並在離散創傷中發展出照護（care）的互依倫理。論文先援引嗅覺政治與關懷倫理，闡述氣味、國家治理以及照護的關聯，提供全球化下照見亞裔底層酷兒生活的新角度；接著分析貫穿小說的重要氣味元素：一、美甲坊：按摩和指甲油看似療癒，卻與其毒害並存。二、菸草：象徵鮮嫩的同性情慾，又緊扣毒品的階級身體。三、排泄物：屎尿帶出生死交關的情境、道德秩序和情感需求。論文發現，這些氣味挑戰了原始／文明二元對立，並介入西方對「健康」的現代想像。主角小狗成長於有毒的（toxic）性別氣質和有毒的（poisonous）物質環境，仍持續探索生存可能，為自我和他者哀悼及創生。作為結論，王鷗行作品開放主體邊界、邁向各種間際連結。

This paper analyzes Vietnamese-American writer Ocean Vuong’s On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous through the lens of sensory perception, emphasizing the crucial role of smell in his works. It explores the permeability of olfactory identities under globalization. The novel’s epistolary form re-establishes (im)possible communication with the mother. Writing, as a creative act, enables the narrator to imagine historical scenes and develop an ethic of care rooted in interdependency amid diasporic trauma. Drawing upon the politics of olfaction and the ethics of care, the paper examines the connections between scent, state governance, and care, offering a new perspective to illuminate experiences of subaltern queer individuals of Asian America in the context of globalization. The paper subsequently analyzes key scent elements in the novel: the mother’s manicure, juxtaposing healing with the potential harm of nail polish for workers; the smell of tobacco, symbolizing both samesex desire and the class issues surrounding drug use; and the smell of feces, evoking the nexus of life and death, moral order, and emotional needs. It argues that these scents challenge the primitive/civilized dichotomy and intervene in the modern Western notion of“health.”Despite the toxic masculinity and poisonous environment in which he grows up, the protagonist Little Dog perseveres in exploring the possibilities of survival, mourning and creation. Ultimately, Vuong’s works expand the boundaries of subjectivity and move towards interconnectedness.