从“野生”到“人工”?——生物社会一体的沙捞越屋燕养殖

From “Wild” to “Farmed”:Swiftlet Farming in Sarawak

燕窝这一特殊中国食物的生产过程,正经历着一场重要变革。历史上,燕窝主要从分布在东南亚各地的山洞之中采摘而来。过去30年中,"屋燕养殖"逐渐兴起,被认为代表了燕窝生产方式转变的趋向。马来西亚沙捞越屋燕养殖过程中,"引燕入屋"所体现出的人与自然的关系,是介乎于"野生"与"人工"的技术介入和市场动因下的经济活动,而非源于"驯化"所寓意的人类与自然的认知与分化,由此可引导我们重新思考同一整体世界当中的生物与社会关系。

A special Chinese delicacy, edible birds'nest (EBN) is undergoing a transformation in its production. Historically, EBN was collected from limestone caves all over Southeast Asia. However, over the past thirty years, swiftlet farming has been gradually rising as an industry, which has been considered to mark a shift in the mode of producing EBN--from “ wild” to “ domestic” production. Based on fieldwork on swiftlet farming in Sarawak, Malaysia, this study has discovered that the new mode of producing EBN reflects a special relationship between humans and nature, a relationship that has resulted from technological intervention between “wild” and “artificial” and driven by the forces of the market economy. As it has not arisen from the perception and division of man and nature implied in “domestication”, the new relationship has provided an opportunity for rethinking the bio-social relationship in the holistic world.