英美文學研究之再探：跨太平洋轉向與修復的可能

On Rethinking English Studies: Imagining Transpacific Turns and Possibilities of Repair

本文回顧當前學界對英美文學研究的既有構想，並進一步思考該學科未來的發展可能。本文主張，通過細讀來自太平洋地區的故事，以更深入地理解帝國衝突、環境破壞、和修復的可能，新興的「跨太平洋研究」能為英美文學研究開闢新的路徑。本文聚焦於提艾瓦姊妹的重要作品，包含泰瑞西亞．提艾瓦（Teresia Teaiwa）的詩集《追尋Nei Nim‘anoa》（Searching for Nei Nim‘anoa），以及卡特林娜．提艾瓦（Katerina Teaiwa）仍在持續進行中的展覽「巴納巴計畫」（Project Banaba）。雖然曾為英國殖民地，巴納巴島在英美文學研究中極少受到關注。然而作為一處經歷殖民榨取與原住民流離失所的島嶼，巴納巴島及其相關敘事已經以多種方式被重探與講述。本文認為，以特定國族和歷史斷代為核心的傳統英美文學研究架構難以充分呈現以巴納巴島故事為例的太平洋敘事。通過思考提艾瓦姊妹兼具創作性與批判性的作品，以及她們從大學教育延伸至更廣泛場域的視角，本文指出，提艾瓦姊妹的作品啟發我們重新思考全球尺度上的過去、現在與未來。

What is at stake in rethinking English studies now? This article engages with recent discussions about how we have conceptualized, and how we might further conceptualize, our work in this discipline. It argues that the emerging field of transpacific studies could help us to envision new paths forward. More specifically, it calls for an attentive reading of Pacific stories to better understand imperial collisions, environmental devastation, and possibilities of repair. It focuses on the important work of the Teaiwa sisters: Teresia Teaiwa, including her collection of poetry Searching for Nei Nim‘anoa, and Katerina Teaiwa, including her ongoing Project Banaba exhibition. Of particular interest is their careful engagement with stories from and about Banaba, an island in the central Pacific which—despite being a former British colony—is seldom considered in English studies. A site of colonial extraction and Indigenous displacement, Banaba and stories about it have been reconsidered and retold in various ways. Looking at specific sites of intervention, this article contends that older models of our discipline organized around selected national literatures and historical periods cannot adequately account for Pacific stories including stories from and about Banaba. This article concludes that the Teaiwa sisters’work—both creative and critical, and focused on learning in universities and beyond—presents a valuable opportunity to revisit fundamental questions about our past, present, and future relations on a broader planetary scale.