重探張愛玲小說裏的病態身體———以《花凋》、《紅玫瑰與白玫瑰》、《小團圓》爲主

Revisiting the Sickened Bodies in Eileen Chang’s Novels, with Focuses on The Withering Flower, The Red Rose and the White Rose, and Little Reunion

Abstract

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.

蘇珊•桑塔格（Susan Sontag）認爲，疾病是内在精神狀態通過身體說出的語言，是一種自我表達。張愛玲（1920—1995）小說的文本分析車載斗量，疾病書寫在“張學”裏不是新話題。曹七巧“閣樓上的瘋女人”（The Madwoman in the Attic）形象，肺病隱喻，歇斯底里症候，或厭食症狀、子宫病變，均是學者關注焦點。總的來說，肺結核、歇斯底里、瘋狂，應該是張愛玲小說内的疾病書寫最常被論及的面向，當然，這些也是中國現代文學裏慣見的幾種病態。而本文則希望能擴及張愛玲小說内其他尚未被論說圓滿的病體書寫。

因此，本文主要透過《花凋》裏的肺癆、《紅玫瑰與白玫瑰》裏的霍亂與便秘、《小團圓》裏的厭食症與性愛疼痛，探討張愛玲小說裏的病態身體（morbidbody）的三種樣貌：消耗與醜怪的身體、堵塞與自囚的身體、内傷與自棄的身體，以及其所彰顯的意義、在小說美學上的功能。談疾病書寫而格外側重身體，是因爲疾病必須在身體顯現摧枯拉朽之力，才能暗示、側寫出人物的身心變化與生命困局；進一步也能探究，小說人物什麽樣的遭遇與什麽樣的疾病會被聯繫起來。借助歷史材料，並深化小說文本解讀，得以見出張愛玲小說裏所生産出的病態身體，並非孤立存在，而是鑲嵌於歷史、社會與性别的圖景内。

Susan Sontag argues that illness is the internal spiritual status that becomes a language spoken through the body, and is therefore a form of self-expression. There have been plenty of studies of Eileen Chang’s (1920-1995) novels, and the discussion of narratives on illnesses in her works is not new. Cao Qiqiao, the Madwoman in the Attic depicted as a patient of tuberculosis with symptoms of hysteria, anorexia and uterine diseases, has long been a focus of recent scholarship. These are certainly common illnesses found in modern Chinese literature. The present essay, however, is an attempt to discuss Chang’s writing on illnesses that have not yet been studied.

Hence, the present research focuses on illnesses such as tuberculosis in The Withering Flower, cholera and constipation in The Red Rose and the White Rose, and anorexia and dyspareunia in Little Union. It explores three types of morbid bodies in Chang’s novels: exhausted and ugly bodies; confined and self-imprisoned bodies; and internally injured and self-abandoned bodies; and discusses their significance as well as their aesthetic functions. The description of the body is essential in the discussion of narratives of illnesses because by means of its formidable power illness functions in implying or indirectly depicting the protagonist’s changes in physical and psychological condition as well as her life dilemmas. Furthermore, the research explores the connection between certain encounters and certain diseases. Making use of historical sources, the analysis of texts may become more in-depth; we see that the morbid bodies in Chang’s novels by no means exist in isolation but are imbedded in a contextual picture of history, society, and gender.