國立政治大學研究所碩士論文提要

研究所別： 英國語文研究所

論文名稱： 閱讀溫特森«銘刻在身»的爽

指導教授： 劉建基教授

研究生： 張惠慈

論文提要內容： （共一冊，約 31500 字，分五章）

本研究關於溫特森的《銘刻在身》旨在探究在閱讀此文本過程中，不同程度及不同形式的爽(jouissance)。此研究將著重於三方面：其一，追求愛情的爽；其二，在幻想中永恆的爽；其三，閱讀文本《銘刻於身》的爽。本論文將分五個章節。

我在第一章的前半部簡介溫特森及她的小說，在後半部，描繪拉岡心理學中三個限界（幻真界[the real]，想像界[the imaginary]，及象徵界[the symbolic]），及此三界與爽的交互作用。這三個限界及爽，將是本研究的理論基石。

第二章的討論旨在解釋，為何敘述者著迷於不斷陷入愛情，及為何露伊絲在小說結尾莫名其妙的消失了。乍看之下，敘述者對露伊絲的愛相當矛盾：敘述者對露伊絲宣稱其無窮的愛，卻又刻意地悄悄的遠離了她。然而事實上，敘述者的矛盾行為堪稱合理：因為愛與失去是共生的。在浪漫愛情故事裡，一段介於愛的主體(the loving subject)及被愛客體(the loved object)之間的距離是必要的。表面上，愛的主體（敘述者）的追求過程裡看來痛苦，而實際上他正無意識的，享受著對被愛客體無限的追求時的爽。在這迷戀他者的過程中，主體實際上是自我迷戀(narcissism)，而在這自我迷戀的過程中，主體將其自我理想(an ego-ideal)投射在被愛客體上，並美化被愛客體成為一理想的自我(an ideal ego)。

在第三章，我將對敘述者迷戀愛情的現象做更深入的探討：到底敘述者打算由露伊絲的完美形象中挖掘什麼，以及為何敘述者得與一個理想戀人，住在一個理想愛情的幻象之中？我發掘出其中最主要的原因來自於，主體懼怕被去勢及懼怕象徵界中的無能（例如婚姻、老去、死亡）。主體具有一個原生的欲望：期待完滿及永恆（此欲望是期待回歸幻象界以及獲得爽），然而在現實世界（象徵界）的短缺及壓迫之下，回歸的可能被榨乾。幻象(fantasy)於是成為主體（敘述者）的護欄，它一方面讓主體相信自己是全能，另一方面它掩蔽事實，讓主體忘卻自身的不完整和無能為力。

在第四章，我跳出單單在文本內容中的討論，進而探討文本與讀者之間的關係；本討論的立論基礎為羅蘭巴特的書寫式文本(writerly text)。在文本╱讀者及露伊絲╱敘述者之間，有一類似的有趣現象：文本之於讀者正如同露伊絲之於敘述者。在這兩個情況當中同時都有一被動的客體(the desired or probed object)勾引探索中的主體(the probing subject)，然後再由主體的追求中脫逃而去。閱讀《銘刻於身》，表面上痛苦萬分，而實際上卻令人陶醉：因為閱讀的爽正源自於，作者刻意設計的不確定因素(uncertain elements)。這些不確定因素，一方面玩弄讀者，一方面也在文本上形成一未填滿的空間，其特徵就是不斷的衍生(endless generation)－－讀者可以參與創造各式各類的可能性，而意義的系統將不斷延伸。一個單一的文本，在此不斷延伸的系統下，便成了多重文本，而閱讀此類書寫式文本之樂趣，就在於讀者不得不參與創造意義的過程。

最後我在第五章的結論部份，總結了愛與閱讀的爽具有相同的條件與模式：在追求的主體（讀者與愛的主體）與被追求的客體（文本及被愛客體）之間，空間與距離是不可避免的要素，因為隱藏在人體內的爽本身就是一個矛盾體。

Chapter One Introduction

Chapter Two The Jouissance of Pursuing Love

Chapter Three The Jouissance of Being Immortal in Fantasy

Chapter Four The Bliss of Reading Written on the Body:

A Writerly Text with Jouissance

Chapter Five Coda

Abstract

In this study of Jeanette Winterson’s Written on the Body I would like to explore jouissance in different forms and levels in the process of reading this novel. The emphasis will be laid upon three aspects: first, the jouissance of pursuing love; secondly, the jouissance of being immortal in fantasy; and thirdly, the jouissance of reading this novel. The thesis is divided into five parts.

In the first chapter, the beginning section is devoted to a general introduction of Jeanette Winterson and her novels; in the ensuing section, I will picture the interrelationships between the three registers—the real, the imaginary, and the symbolic—and jouissance in Lacanian psychoanalysis, which will be adopted as the interpretative model to account for the theme of jouissance in the whole thesis.

In the second chapter, I will stress on the narrator’s exalted love toward Louise and the construction of his/her ego. On the surface, it is odd that the narrator’s sublime love for Louise contradicts his/her decision—to leave Louise; however this paradox is reasonable, because love and loss is in fact symbiosis. A distance between the loving subject and the loved object is necessary in the case of romantic love; though painful, the loving subject enjoys itself in the act of endless pursuit for the loved object, which is actually an ideal ego of the subject’s self. The paradox of love in company with suffering explains the narrator’s addiction in love and the disappearance of Louise.

In the third chapter, my interest is getting deeper: what does the narrator want to grub out of the ideal image of Louise, and why does the narrator have to live in the fantasy of ideal love and to be with an ideal lover? The principal cause that I will explore is the fear of being castrated and of the impotency of the symbolic. The subject has an essential desire to be integral and immortal (which is the concept of the real and is allied to jouissance), but there are forces from the reality (or the symbolic) to drain this desire. Therefore, fantasy becomes a protective talisman for the narrator (as well as for every subject) to forget its fragmentation and inability.

In the fourth chapter, the interrelation between the text and the reader is the dominant consideration, and Roland Barthes’ theory of writerly text that engenders bliss (jouissance) will be the critical base. There is an interesting formula between the text/the reader and Louise/the narrator. The text for the reader is similar to Louise for the narrator: in both situations, the desired one seduces and slides from the probing other. Reading Written on the Body on the surface is painful and irritating; in a sense, the act of reading is ecstatic. The origin of the bliss of reading is the uncertain elements intentionally created by the author. The unfilled space in the text that entertains readers is characterized by its feature of endless generation—various possibilities are created, and the network of meanings extends.

Therefore, to conclude the whole scheme of love and reading in the fifth chapter, I will point out that a space or a distance between the pursuing subject (the reader or the loving subject) and the pursued object (the text of the loved object) is inevitable because jouissance inherent in the human body is in its essence paradoxical.

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