出刊年月/Date of Publishing

1992.06

所屬卷期/Vol. & No.   第22卷第2期 Vol. 22, No. 2

類型/Type                 研究論文 Research Article

篇名/Title
The Ethics of Topography: Steven’s “The Idea of Order at Key West”
地誌的倫理：史帝文斯的〈基偉斯的次序理念〉

作者/Author
米樂 J. Hillis Miller

頁碼/Pagination
pp. 1-43

摘要
史帝文斯 (Wallace Stevens) 的詩，與本體論主題的關係似乎遠勝過和倫理主題的關係。亳無疑問的，他的詩泰半都是「跟地誌有關的」("topographical")。這類詩篇描述真實或想像的地方。細讀〈基偉斯的次序理念〉("The Idea of Order at Key West"[1934]) 後顯示：史帝文斯詩中的地誌與道德責任有關。本詩描繪基偉斯海灘所見之海景，利用這樣的描繪表達幾個人與物間的複雜交替關係：大海丶天空、停泊在港口的漁船、詩人丶一個女人 (她的歌使此一情景秩序井然) 和一位叫雷蒙．佛南德茲 (Ramon Fernandez) 的人 (詩人同他談話)。本詩係以女人歌詠大海開始，繼之以其所提的要求做倫理反應。它向讀者的代理人佛南德茲陳述另一要求：「雷蒙．佛南德茲，告訴我如果你知道……。」探討本詩的任何論述，譬如本摘要，則是另一種倫理行為，是本詩對讀者所要求的一種反應。於是，詩中除了歌唱者與詩人／聽者的關係外，還有讀者與詩的關係。凡此種種都是特殊的道德責任。它們是無法抗拒的責任，但是除了要超越的需求外，並沒有明確的方向，如同那女人「歌詠著海靈不懂的曲調」("sang beyond the genius of the sea")。這種說話行為或「踐行」(performatives) 經常是盲目的，不知往何處去或創造什麼；然而低迴思之，它們似乎受制於說話行為發生後才顯現的神靈。這種不可決定性，乃是一切說話行為的典型特色。

Abstract
The poetry of Wallace Stevens and its relationship with ontology seems to surpass its relationship with ethics. Without doubt, the greater part of his poetry is “topographical”, in its description of places existing in reality or fantasy. Careful reading of “The Idea of Order at Key West” (1934) shows that in fact, topography and ethical responsibility are interrelated. This poem describes all that can be seen in the seascape of Key West beach, and in this description expresses the complicated alternating relationships that exist between several people and objects: the ocean, the sky, the fishing boats anchored in the harbor, the poet, a woman and a man called Ramon Fernandez. The poem describes how the woman’s singing starts with the ocean, and is an ethical response to her demands. It describes another demand made of Ramon, the reader’s agent, “Ramon Fernandez, tell me all you know…” In an examination of what the poem describes, for example, this is a summary of another kind of ethical behavior, a response to the poem’s demand. Thus, apart from the relationships between the singer, poet and listener, this poem also has the relationship between poet and reader. All of these kinds of relationships are characterized by ethical responsibility. They have no way to avoid this responsibility, yet apart from wanting to surmount demands, they have no clear direction, like the woman “sang beyond the genius of the sea.” These types of acts of language or performatives are often blind, not knowing which way to go, or what to create; but thinking about this, they seem to be limited by what happens after the act of language, that is, the appearance of the divine. This kind of indecisiveness is still the characteristic pattern of all acts of language.

關鍵字/Key Word
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DOI
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學門分類/Subject
文學 Literature