Queer Theory and Politics in Taiwan : The Cultural Translation and (Re)Production of Queerness in and beyond Taiwan Lesbian/Gay/Queer Activism

本文試圖從文化翻譯、生產與再生產的角度探討酷兒理論與政治在台灣的狀況。我焦注於下列議題：同志/酷兒運動、翻譯酷兒理論、命名、酷兒運動者與媒體及通俗文化的合作、酷兒文學、酷兒運動者與後現代及後殖民的關聯、學院裡的酷兒研究。我認為，酷兒理論乃九○年代學界與文化界最熱門的理論之一，有助於改造有關情慾與性別的公共論述。酷兒理論與女/男同性戀理論幾乎同時翻譯到台灣，遂採取更隨機應變的策略來促進同性戀意識，生產嘉年華式的對同性戀友善的氛圍，探討女/男同性戀內部的差異，乃至於幾乎從一開始就打破同性戀/異性戀的二分。酷兒政治藉由勾連媒體、通俗文化與後現代，而成功地自我塑造為前衛、進步又趕時髦。但酷兒政治又需要回溯本土同志/酷兒社群的歷史、培養新的本土同志/酷兒社群，並思考翻譯的跨國政治，藉此而與後殖民有所勾連。翻譯酷兒理論總已是因應九○年代台灣同志/酷兒運動的特定需求而在地化了。台灣同志/酷兒運動在很短時間內開花結果，不僅彰顯1987 年解嚴之後充滿動力、多元的文化氣氛，也顯示運動者在酷兒文化生產上的靈巧多謀。This paper seeks to discuss queer theory and politics in Taiwan in terms of cultural translation, production and reproduction. For this end, I will focus on issues such as gay/lesbian/queer movements, translating queer theory, naming, queer activists’ co-operation with the media and popular culture, queer literature, queer activists’ connection with postmodernism and postcolonialism, and queer studies in the academy. I argue that, as one of the key theories flourishing in Taiwan’s cultural and academic scene in the 1990s, queer theory has helped transform the public discourse on sexuality and gender. To have queer theory and gay/lesbian theory translated to Taiwan almost at the same time is to contribute to gay-positive awareness with more resourceful tactics, to generate a carnivalequely gay-friendly atmosphere, to address the differences within lesbians and gays, and to even break down the homosexual/heterosexual divide almost from the beginning. By connecting with the media, popular culture, and postmodernism, queer politics has succeeded in presenting itself as at once the avant-garde and the most progressive and trendy at the cultural front. But queer politics also finds the need to connect with postcolonialism by tracing the history of local gay/lesbian/queer communities and cultivating new ones, and by thinking about the transnational politics of translation. The translation of queer theory is always already indiginized for the specific needs of the lesbian/gay/queer movements in Taiwan in the 1990s. And the success of the lesbian/gay/queer movements within a very short time is indicative not only of the dynamic, pluralist cultural atmosphere right after the lifting of the martial law in 1987, but also of the resourcefulness of the activists in cultural production of queerness