体育、科学与帝国——英国珠峰探险书写中的“空气”之争(1921—1953)

Sport,Science and Empire:The“English Air”Controversy in the British Writings on Mount Qomolangma Expedition(1921-1953)

20世纪上半叶的“珠峰探险”是英帝国历史上耗时最长且最具野心的系列探险活动。由历年珠峰探险队员接力创作的《珠峰搏斗记》《珠峰:未尽的探险》《珠峰之巅》和《攀登珠峰》等作品围绕“空气”之争隐匿着一条帝国叙事的副线。其争论表面是攀登珠峰使用人工氧气瓶是否违背体育伦理的观念分歧,实质是两种力量的深度博弈:一方面是出身英国中产阶级精英群体的阿尔卑斯登山家所坚守的体育伦理,另一方面是探险科学家进行“极端生理学”实验背后广泛持久的帝国知识生产。从拒绝使用“英国空气”到普遍使用人工氧气装置攀登珠峰,争论双方均被帝国意识形态所规训,道德选择为帝国意志所左右。英国珠峰探险书写深刻再现了体育、科学和帝国之间的紧密纠缠,是审视英帝国争夺亚洲腹地权力图景的经典文本。

British Mount Qomolangma expedition for decades in the 20th century was not only an important event in the history of Himalayan mountaineering,but also the most ambitious expansion of the empire in the hinterland of Asia.Works such as The Fight for Everest①,Upon that Mountain and The Ascent of Everest written successively by the expedition members over the years conceal the imperial narrative wiring over the“English air”controversy.It may seem to be an ethical dilemma asto the use of oxygen bottles in mountaineering,but is essentially the wrestling between the British traditional alpinists’age-old ethical virtues originated from their middle-class elite identities,and the production of imperial knowledge through“extreme physiology”experiments by the imperial scientists.Both have to submit to the imperialist ideology that Britain must become the first to conquer the Mount Qomolangma.From the rejection of the“English air”to the widespread use of oxygen cylinders,the ethical choice is a victory of the imperial will.These expedition writings revealingly represent the historical intertwine of sports,science and empire,and are significant for examining the power landscape of the British Empire in the rivalry for the hinterland of Asia.