北港香爐人人插

by Li Ang, 柳廣成 (Illustrator)

台灣情慾小說的最佳引路人李昂，銳利地撕破傳統閨閣書寫意識，逼視情慾，耙梳邊緣化女性的陰暗面向。書中〈戴貞操帶的魔鬼〉、〈空白的靈堂〉、〈北港香爐人人插〉和〈彩妝血祭〉分別為四篇獨立的短篇小說，合則為長篇「戴貞操帶的魔鬼系列」政治小說。是李昂在九○年代，以女性身分參加反對黨運動的印象與反思。藉由一位或多位身處政治圈中的女性：戒嚴時代代夫出征的悲情活寡婦、夫死妻繼的烈士未亡人、解嚴後崛起的才色雙全女民代、苦守孤霜且命運多舛的獨立運動之母的際遇，敘述她們如何側身處於詭譎多變的政治風暴裡；在面對情慾攪擾、社會道德觀感、政治意識型態等人性問題，如何「安身立命」，活出一片自己的天空，點撥出台灣反對運動一頁心酸卻透明化的歷史！

《北港香爐人人插》是女性主義的代表經典作，一九九七年出版時，因筆法寫實生動，扣緊時代氛圍，屢被「對號入座」，成為各大媒體追逐焦點，「北港香爐」一句街談巷語，更蔚為諷刺女性代表句。九歌重新排版編印，李昂特別撰寫新序，說明創作始末，還原文學在創作與人生間的分際。

232 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2022

About the author

Li Ang (李昂; real name Shih Shu-tuan with Li Ang being her pen name) (born April 7, 1952, in Lukang, Taiwan) is a Taiwanese feminist writer. After graduating from Chinese Culture University with a degree in philosophy, she studied drama at the University of Oregon, after which she returned to teach at her alma mater. Her major work is The Butcher's Wife (殺夫: 1983, tr. 1986), though she has a copious output. Feminist themes and sexuality are present in much of her work. Many of her stories are set in Lukang.

Li Ang is known for her idiosyncratic, candid and penetrating insights on gender politics in the social life in contemporary Taiwan. Beginning her writing career at the age of 16, she has published nearly twenty novels and collections of short stories centering on women in such topics as pubescent female psychosexuality, feminism and gender, sex and female subjectivity. Her bold and successive broaching of subjects bordering on the taboo within the cultural context of Taiwan has earned her extensive critical acclaim both in the world of Chinese letters and internationally. Translated into different languages and published world-wide, many of her works have been reviewed by leading newspapers in many countries, including The New York Times, and made into films and T.V. series. In 2004, Li Ang was awarded the “Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres” by the French Minister of Culture and Communication in recognition of her outstanding contribution to world literature.

(from Wikipedia)

Reviews

[lukoto · Rating 4 out of 5]

政治八卦之于小说更具波澜。读完之后觉得李昂真是太犀利太绝，怪不得把含沙射影的女主角逼到大骂，但也是达到了她的目的。整本短篇集就是台湾现当代政治的万花筒，遗孀、白色恐怖、情妇，欲望和权利和性的杂糅和碰撞……《彩妆血祭》是真的有些震撼。

[Anran Sun · Rating 4 out of 5]

作者以九○年代參與黨外運動的親身經歷為基底，透過多位身處政治場域的女性的視角，鋒利地剖開性別、權力與情慾的糾葛，堪稱臺灣女性主義文學的經典之作。

書名源自臺灣民間俚語「北港香爐人人插」，本是對女性貞操的嘲諷，李昂卻大膽挪用，將其轉化為對男性中心政治的顛覆性隱喻。故事背景置於戒嚴末期至解嚴初期的黨外運動浪潮中，那些「黨的女人」——政治遺孀、烈士之妻、才色兼備的女民代，或婦運倡議者——在男性凝視下掙扎。她們的身體成為權力交換的媒介，卻也同時是反抗的武器。作者以露骨卻精準的筆觸，描寫情慾場面不僅為刺激感官，更是用以揭露「身體即政治」的殘酷現實：女人能否主動「睡了他們」，而非被動「被睡」？這句經典台詞，直指女性在權力結構中的主體性困境。

李昂撕破傳統閨閣敘事的偽飾，直視邊緣女性的陰暗面與慾望深淵。相較於《殺夫》的屠宰式暴力，此書更偏向心理層面的解剖，交織國族記憶、道德枷鎖與性別角力，讀來既震撼又發人深省。時隔二十餘年再讀，此書的批判力道絲毫未減，反在當今婦女權益討論熱烈的社會中，更顯前瞻與迫切。

當然，作品並非無懈可擊。有些讀者或許會覺得情慾描寫過於直白，易被誤讀為煽情而非警世；敘事的多聲道交錯，也可能讓部分讀者感到碎片化。然而，正因其大膽挑戰禁忌，作者才能深刻捕捉臺灣轉型期的性別政治脈動，成為不可多得的時代見證。

總體而言，《北港香爐人人插》不僅是李昂創作生涯的巔峰之一，更是臺灣文學中探討女性主體與權力糾纏的必讀文本。

[filminthesea · Rating 4 out of 5]

起自《戴貞操帶的魔鬼》、《空白的靈堂》、《北港香爐人人插》而落筆於《彩妝血祭》，第一次看驚訝於各篇以獨特的視點切入女性與政治醜聞之中，並精準地藉由各元素描繪出時代面貌。（會很樂意再次閱讀，再次探究、思考箇中意義）