空氣、敘事與生存：笛福《大疫年紀事》中的瘟疫感官體驗

Sensing the Plague: Air, Storytelling, and Survival in Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year

丹尼爾．笛福的《大疫年紀事》於1722年出版，描述1665年倫敦腺鼠疫疫情。本文探討笛福如何運用視覺、聽覺與嗅覺描繪瘟疫城市，建構出強烈的感官場域。空氣作為感官經驗的關鍵媒介，滲透整座城市，營造焦慮與絕望氛圍。視覺與幻覺交融，行政命令與謠言混雜，瘴氣與惡臭瀰漫其間。笛福生動的敘述不僅紀錄歷史現實，更觸發深層的情感共鳴，使讀者沉浸於瘟疫橫行下倫敦的恐懼與不安之中。歷經三個多世紀，該作品仍持續為當代讀者提供關於疫病經驗與敘事再現的新視角，敦促我們重新思考疾病與感官、歷史與文學之間的複雜關係。

Published in 1722, Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year describes the events of the bubonic plague that struck London in 1665. Despite repetitions and digressions, A Journal of the Plague Year is a highly detailed, stylised, and fictionalised narrative long cited as a historical source. Through the narrator H.F.’s use of sensory details, the vivid and visceral depictions of the sights, sounds, and smells of the plague-stricken city are fastidiously provided, creating a powerful and immersive narrative that allows readers to imaginatively experience the plague first-hand.
This article seeks to examine how Defoe employs the senses of sight, sound, and smell in A Journal of the Plague Year. In doing so, it becomes evident that air—though scarcely perceptible—serves as a potent medium through which these sensory experiences permeate a city engulfed in a miasma of anxiety, uncertainty, and despair. Visual perceptions blend with visions and illusions, authoritative directives mingle with rumours, and the air is thick with the stench of effluvia. This vivid narrative not only chronicles the historical realities of the plague but also evokes a deep emotional response, immersing readers in the atmosphere of fear and disquiet that characterised London during the epidemic. Over three centuries since its initial publication, Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year continues to offer new perspectives, urging readers to reconsider the complexities of the plague.