《安妮儿的鬼魂》中的身份认同与佛教“缘起”论

Self-Identification and the Buddhist Idea of Interdependent Origination in Anil’s Ghost

翁达杰作品中的长篇小说《安尼尔的鬼魂》具有作家诸多作品的共同元素:考古学家、尸体、悬疑、暴力、战争等。这些元素都服务于人物对自我身份的探求。以联合国法医身份返回祖国斯里兰卡的安尼尔,肩负调查斯里兰卡内战大屠杀真相的使命。她的具体任务是识别一具骷髅的身份、塑造它的面貌。这一过程也是安尼尔对自己"根"的探寻和对身份的思考,折射斯里兰卡的佛教文化,展现了佛教"缘起"理论。《安尼尔的鬼魂》通过构建骷髅的身份,微妙、深入地揭示了人物身份问题中佛教"缘起"理论的"我"与"无我"。翁达杰认为,唯有抛弃对自我身份中"我"的执着,达到"消融冲突与对立"的"无我",斯里兰卡的内战与暴力才可能结束。翁达杰相信佛教艺术能帮助斯里兰卡人民重拾信仰并获得和平。

Michael Ondaatje’s novel, Anil’s Ghost, carries some common elements often seen in many of his works: archeologist, corpse, suspense, violence, and war. All these elements contribute to the protagonist’s pursuit of self-identity. Coming back to her mother country as a UN forensic expert, Anil’s mission is to seek the truth about the massacres during Sri Lanka’s Civil War. Specifically speaking, her job is to identify a skeleton and reconstruct its face. The process of fulfilling her task somehow turns into a process of Anil’s search for her own "roots" and her cogination on self-identity, a process that reflects the Buddhist culture in Sri Lanka and demonstrates the Buddhist idea of "interdependent origination." Through the construction of the skeleton’s identity, the way in which Anil’s Ghost tackles the issue of the character’s identity reveals, subtlely and profoundly, the concepts of "self" and "selflessness" in the Buddhist theory of "interdependent origination." In Ondaatje’s view, only by giving up the fixation on the "self" in pursuing self-identity and achieving the kind of "selflessness" that "dissolves all conflicts and oppositions" can the Civil War and violence in Sri Lanka come to an end. Ondaatje believes that Buddhist art can help the people of Sri Lanka regain their faith and attain peace.