Special Issue on “Folklore
Practices, Objects, and Notions of Time” (民俗實踐、物與時間觀)
胡家瑜。〈食物符碼與儀式行動：從賽夏社會關係的建構到時間連結的體現〉。《民俗曲藝》166
(2009.12): 61-96。
Hu
Chia-yu. "Food Symbols and Ritual Actions: From Mediating Social Relations to Embodying Time Linkages among the Saisiyat." Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and
Folklore 166 (2009.12): 61-96.
Abstract
本文主要以食物符碼為主軸，探討賽夏食物表達的文化訊息和衍生的社會行動。食物是日常生活中最普遍和最基本的物品；它們不僅是人類生存的必備要素，政經體系的核心資源，也是傳遞文化訊息和建構集體經驗的重要物質符碼。對於居住在臺灣西北山區，長期夾處於歷史「番界」線上的賽夏人而言，食物不僅好吃、好想、而且好用。賽夏社會生活中，運用食物不同層面的符碼溝通特性動態而彈性地傳達多重意義；例如：食物作為特殊的實體象徵、食物在相關儀式活動中衍生視覺意象和隱喻、以及食物使用過程建構的身體經驗與記憶等。賽夏食物所傳遞的訊息，不但是界定和建構性別與姓氏群關係的重要管道；同時，相對於日常食物不斷快速因應時間轉變，賽夏人也透過儀式中反覆進行的食物相關活動，動態地傳承文化價值與建構社會。藉由對賽夏食物的分析，本文一方面探討食物符碼，對人群關係界定和社會類別概念傳遞的作用；另一方面並進一步討論賽夏人在儀式行動中，運用特殊食物衍生的具體意象和感官經驗，跨越真實世界的時間流變，回溯過去並體現時間連結，形成記憶與認同建構的基礎。
This
paper aims to examine food symbols as well as to explore the cultural messages
and social actions generated by food among the Saisiyat. Food is the most
general and basic substance in daily life. However, other than being a critical
resource in a politico-economic system, food could also serve as an important
symbol for transmitting cultural messages and constructing collective
experiences. As an indigenous group inhabiting on the delineated historical
savage border, the Saisiyat have manipulated food at different levels to
express dynamic and multiple meanings. More importantly, food is used as a
solid metaphor in ritual practices which generate bodily experiences through
step-by-step processes. By analyzing food symbols and examining ritual actions,
we could find that the transmitted food messages create critical media to
define gender relations and construct inter-clan interactions among the
Saisiyat. Furthermore, specific ritual foods, such as sticky rice and millet,
are frequently manipulated to generate sensory experiences and to objectify
past images. In contrast to the rapid changes and constant conflict that
characterize daily life, the Saisiyat dynamically re-construct social
relations, transmit cultural values, and embody linkages with the past through
reproducing and re-enacting food symbols in rituals.