东南亚边缘群体的描写——对人力车夫、娼妓、海盗等群体的研究体会

Rickshaw Pullers, Prostitutes and “Pirates”:Researching and Writing about Southeast Asia and the People without History

本文记述了笔者在写作《苏禄地带:1768~1898年东南亚海上王国的贸易、奴隶和民族性》(1981)、《人力车夫:一部新加坡人群史(1880~1940)》(1986)、《阿姑和南洋姐:1870~1940年的新加坡娼妓》(1993)三部著作的灵感来源、资料来源、学术方法和研究体会。笔者以民族史学方法为起点,关注"地带"(或区域)作为一种空间体系的灵活性,整体研究视角从"地带"进化演变的角度,梳理出世界资本主义经济中蕴含的经济、文化、生态上的相互联系。笔者的整体研究倾向侧重于考察处在历史边缘的底层东南亚人民的本土观点,立足于扎实的档案研究,结合人类学-历史学的方法,辅以充分的文学意象。

The article accounts for the inspiration,source materials,academic perspective and research experience when I was writing my books:The Sulu Zone 1768-1898:The Dynamics of External Trade,Slavery and Ethnicity in the Transformation of a Southeast Asian Maritime State,Rikshaw Coolie:A People’s History of Singapore(1880-1940),and Ah Ku Karayuki-san:Prostitution in Singapore(1870-1940).I started with traditional ethnohistorical methods,and focused on the flexibility of the"zone"as a spatial system.My approach was to tease out the economic,cultural and ecological interconnections embedded in the world capitalist economy with particular reference to the evolution of the"zone".My overall research inclination is to give voice to those who are socially and politically at the edge,thus my research is grounded in solid archival research,blending anthropological-historical techniques with literary imagery.