摘要

躋身二十世紀重要作家之林的赫胥黎，以其代表作《美麗新世界》成功地向讀者警示一個未來後資本主義社會中，揚威科技，壓制人性的敵托邦(dystopia)式生活情境。啟蒙主義抬頭後，科技發展益趨迅捷，除使烏托邦蒙上一層揮之不去的陰影外，甚而將其推向夢魘般的悲世世界。人類自恃自身力量可以超越神，企圖扮演神的角色，希冀取代神的位置，然伴隨驕傲而至的將是重重災難與無盡苦果，如同聖經裡預示巴比倫建造的寓言一般，在臻至完美的前夕卻將遭逢致命一擊。吾人不禁揣問：當人類欣然於掌握了神的鑰匙時，是否意味著終能順利揭開其神秘面紗呢? 眾多敵托邦的批評家與小說家悲觀地預示：當潘朵拉再次打開神致贈人類的盒子時，她已然失去初次的幸運，盒子內循例將溢出一堆不堪入目的惡；然而，僅留的—希望—卻不復見。本文旨在探究一味崇拜啟蒙進步觀的主體(subject)，如何壓抑他者(Other)存在的事實，而為自身量製了名副其實的悲世世界。在這本諷刺未來的寓言小說中，藉由他者的回歸，揭露新世界主體的新穎非但未能走向「成熟」反而趨於「退化」。換言之，這些活死人可謂倍極幸福，因為他們未能意識也永遠無緣意識，他們實際上是何等不幸，他們生命的最大悲哀即在於他們未能體悟自身的悲哀。
為細膩開展《美麗新世界》中所隱含悲世主義「自我」與「他者」的深層解構關係，本論文採解構策略三步驟。步驟一：首先彰顯並探論主體如何成功地壓抑他者。旨在呈現主體的福特極權政府，如何遂行其控制法則，使人民沉溺於安逸享樂中。而置身美麗新世界的新新人類，自認極幸福地活在人類前所未見的夢幻天堂裡。憑恃科技的力量，他們以為成功地逃離了人世間所有的惡，擺脫了所有的他者。步驟二：則探討他者對主體的回歸與抵抗，藉印地安保留區的存在和野人約翰的相互對比，揭示出極權政府以糖衣精心包裹而成的快樂假象。步驟三：瓦解「自我」與「他者」必然的二元結構的對立關係。研探主體與他者雙方的內在矛盾性的相依互存模式，闡明他者對主體霸權的挑戰實存正面意義。「時間」成為此神秘因素模糊了本書中二元固定模式的疆界。主體與他者間的悲世關係藉由主體應回應他者單一的呼喚提出警告。簡之，悲世主義式的批評是對理性導向文明進行無止盡纏繞之能事的「正向夢靨」。就是因為這股對悲世主義夢靨的恐懼因而產生緜緜無盡的正向動力，進而修正主體與他者的關係。

Abstract

Revered as one of the most essential writers in the twenty century, Huxley successfully prophesizes a futuristic dystopia to his readers by his masterpiece, Brave New World, where human beings are dehumanized under a post-capitalized society due to “enlightened” high-technology. Through the lens of the Enlightenment, infallible technology serves as the essential catalyst that triggers the death of day-dreaming utopia and causes the birth of nightmarish dystopia. Man’s hubris to surpass God’s power enables Him to appear “man-forsaken.” Yet, the consequence of man playing God resembles the catastrophe of the Tower of Babel, allegorized in the Bible: man eventually receives a devastating blow from God just before accomplishing his goal. One cannot help asking, “When mankind holds the key to the secret of God’s creation, does it entail that God’s mystery is thus unveiled?” Numerous dystopian critics and novelists have gloomily forecasted the opening of this “Pandora’s box,” only this time, along with all the world’s evils, Hope escapes as well. This thesis aims to explore how the Self, a rendering of the progress-worshipping Enlightenment, represses the voice of the Other, and pushes itself to a genuine dystopia. In this satirical futuristic allegory, the very return of the Other demonstrates that the aggrandized novelty of the Self orients the Fordian Society toward “regression,” instead of toward “mature adulthood.” In other words, these “zombies” are happy in that they do not know and will never know how tragic their lives really are; their biggest sorrow resides in their impossible awareness of this sorrow.
This thesis uses a three-stage deconstructive approach to investigate the complication and subtlety of the dystopian Self-Other relation in Brave New World. Firstly, the Self triumphs to repress the Other. That is, in this section I will discuss the ways how the enlightened Fordian regime reins in its civilians’ hedonism with ubiquitous domination. The New Worldians are convinced that they live in a utopia, an earthly paradise, which mankind has dreamed of inhabiting for centuries. With the perfect help of technology, they assume that they have succeeded in escaping from all others. Secondly, the hierarchy between the Self and the Other will be reversed. The return of the repressed Other, in the form of the Indian Savage Reservation, enters the picture and through one of its members, John, we are able to gain this new perspective on the Fordian society. The dichotomy exposes the false happiness of the Fordian Society, which is sugarcoated by the totalitarian dystopian government. Finally, this binary-opposition relation will be deconstructed. Here, the interdependent relation between the two is elaborated upon, and the affirmative meaning by the challenge of the Other to the Self is demonstrated. With regard to the mysterious element (time), the boundaries between the fixed binary parallels in this book are blurred. This dystopian Self-Other relation issues a warning via the Self’s response to the singular demand of the Other. In a nutshell, the aim of this thesis is to show that what Brave New World offers us is an “affirmative nightmare” which will continue to haunt our logos-oriented progress and civilization in the 21st century.

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