[ 摘要 ]

國家認同是政治、歷史、社會等因素交互作用的結果，亦是世世代代文本及言說積累建構而成。本論文由後殖民論述之角度，檢視西元1584年至1637年之間英國殖民時期的美國書寫，也就是作者所謂的英國新大陸書寫 (English New World Writing)，探討這些文本如何在收編新大陸以建構英國國家認同的同時，也為日後美國的國家認同植下根基。早在十六世紀末一波波英國探險家及移民開始測探美洲新大陸之初，書寫即為內化新大陸經驗之重要手段。透過書寫，新大陸成為上帝獨厚英國的恩賜，新大陸的地理、物產、氣候、原住民、以及其他逐鹿美洲的歐洲列國，則成為英國建構國家認同的「他者」。然而書寫而成的文本與其指涉的對象之間，必然存在斷裂。新大陸書寫所被賦予的政經目的和宗教使命，更擴大這些斷裂，突顯出文本與指涉對象之間的隱喻關係；這也使得其所隱喻的神選之國以及認同的對象，可以輕易地由遙遠的英國轉換成為在地的未來美國。隨著時間的推移，英國終將成為新興的美國藉以定義自我的「他者」，而幾乎所有新大陸書寫中被用來強化英國國家認同的策略（如神選之國的論述），也都將成為建構美國國家認同的主軸。

本論文第一章介紹全文主要觀點。第二章鋪陳英國於十六世紀末十七世紀初時的文化及政治框架，檢視英國如何由聖經、宗教改革及政治文本中建構其為神選之國的身分與認同。第三章探討此神選之國的自我認同，如何被挪用來合理化英國在海外──尤其在美洲──的殖民行動。第四章列舉這些新大陸書寫的言說特性，以及這些特性如何協助書寫者以及讀者在心裡上收服新大陸。第五章討論此時期的文本如何以強勢書寫否定美洲原住民的存在，清除殖民的障礙。第六章則分析新大陸書寫中各種層次的「他者化」(othering)，論述對於新大陸的認同，是如何在各個他者的對話與合縱之間，儼然成形。第七章總結全文，明言此時期英國新大陸書寫所建構的英國國家認同，與對於新大陸，乃至新國家的認同，其實只有一線之隔。



[ 英文摘要 ]

National identity is as much a composition of generations of text and discourse as it is a product of political and social-historical forces. Long before the stage was set for American Independence, early English New World writing had provided the discursive power that finally engendered the new republic. The thesis is a textual study of late sixteenth-century and early seventeenth-century English writing on the New World of North America, notably Virginia and New England, in light of Post-colonial studies. It studies texts such as the younger Richard Hakluyt’s Discourse of Western Planting (1584), Thomas Harriot’s A Brief and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia (1590), John Brereton’s Discoverie of the North Part of Virginia (1602), William Wood’s New England’s Prospect (1635), and Thomas Morton’s New English Canaan (1637). After the introductory chapter one, chapter two establishes the episteme of the time, i.e. England as God’s true chosen country. Registering England in Biblical and ecclesiastical contexts, the chapter traces the historical, ideological, and textual origins of the British Empire. Chapter three demonstrates how this sense of election was carried over to justify overseas colonialism and characterized early accounts of English contact with the New World. Chapter four catalogues the discursive characteristics shared by the target texts and how they helped the English settlers to subdue or tame the terra incognita while appropriating the New World to consolidate England’s identity as the elect nation. Chapter five examines how early English New World writing claimed hegemony over the New World through negating and othering the peoples and cultures of the inhabiting native population. Chapter six sums up different forms of “othering” in the context of early English New World writings and discuss how different identities try to hold the center. In conclusion, the final chapter shows how identity, constructed by the dialogue between the text and the episteme, are constantly in flux. As a result, early English New World writing entertained the momentum of an American national identity at a time when few people were thinking about establishing a new country in North America.