互为“他者”的凝视——孔迈隆教授与美浓的田野影像

Gaze between Anthropologist and the Others:Myron L. Cohen in Meinong Taiwan

直到今天,人类学在大多数人心目中仍然是一门相当陌生的学科,在半个世纪前的农村,应该更是冷僻。20世纪中期,对中国研究有兴趣的西方人类学者因为大时代的背景,纷纷转入台湾、香港等地,而绝大多数都是进行汉人(Han Chinese)社会文化研究。曾获中国人类学会终身成就奖的美国哥伦比亚人类学教授(Myron L. Cohen)就是在上述背景下,经历一段曲折的过程进入台湾南部美浓客家小镇。在摄影还属希罕的年代,孔迈隆为美浓拍摄了近2 000张照片,这些影像忠实呈现了西方人类学者视角下,半个多世纪前的台湾农村,画面人物或惊讶或无视于镜头的表情也反映了偏远小镇民众对于闯入日常生活的西方人感受,呈现出人类学者与报导人相互凝视的宝贵画面。

For most Chinese,anthropology is still an unfamiliar discipline today,not to mention in the last century rural China. In 1950’s,lots of western anthropologists who’s aim to do China study going to Taiwan for their fieldwork and Prof. Myron L. Cohen is one of them. Except his ethnography,Prof. Cohen took thousands photographs which record early Taiwan rural life and reflect the meaning of gaze between anthropologist and the others. This paper aims to discuss the background and meaning of these photographs and the process of exhibition,such as Prof. Cohen mention:“I am delighted that the photographs I took then,as they are so skillfully exhibited today,allows for a look back to those times,and contributes to an understanding of how mid-20th century life in Daqixia was still powerfully shaped by the traditions the first Hakka settlers brought with them from China,traditions which very early were quickly adapted to the new circumstances of life in Taiwan.”