嘲笑的劊子手：解讀「屠貓記」

🔪 嘲笑的劊子手：解讀「屠貓記」

在十八世紀三十年代的巴黎，發生了一件怪誕而暴力的事件：印刷作坊學徒對貓進行了儀式性的屠殺。這一事件遠非偶然的殘酷行為，而是成為羅伯特·達恩頓（Robert Darnton） 1984年經典文章《屠貓記》（The Great Cat Massacre）的焦點。達恩頓以人類學的視角，解開了十八世紀法國工人的文化和社會密碼。

解碼文化文本

達恩頓劃時代的貢獻在於他將該事件視為一個文化文本進行處理。他的核心問題是：為什麼這場被施暴者以極度歡樂的心情講述的事件，對他們來說是如此滑稽可笑？通過尋找答案，他闡明了在正式歷史中常被忽視的底層階級的世界觀。

1. 事件： 由於長時間工作、食物匱乏以及對師傅及其妻子的蔑視，印刷學徒上演了一場對當地貓隻的模擬審判和殘酷處決，其中包括師傅妻子心愛的寵物貓 la grise（灰貓）。

2. 背景： 師傅及其嬌慣的寵物象徵著精英階層專橫的權力和特權。同時，學徒們生活在不穩定的環境中，經常睡在寒冷的作坊裡，並恐懼上級的影響力。

3. 象徵意義： 在法國的民間傳說中，貓，特別是黑貓（儘管這次是灰貓），與巫術、魔鬼和非法性行為有著根深蒂固的聯繫。通過對貓進行正式審判和痛苦處決，學徒們在象徵性地對師傅的妻子發動一場獵巫行動。他們將她視為一個具有「魔法」控制力的虐待者，並對她充滿鄙視和恐懼。

因此，「屠貓記」是一場具有顛覆性的、宣洩性的社會反轉儀式。這是一種安全的方式，讓工人們在嘉年華（狂歡節）期間利用暫時被允許的違規行為，發洩他們對權威的暴力和怨恨，而嘉年華的傳統就是社會秩序暫時顛倒。

達恩頓作品的重要性 

達恩頓的文章是文化史的基礎，並因其方法論而在人類學中被廣泛教授。它表明，看似非理性或怪誕的事件，如果用產生它們的文化的內在邏輯來解讀，就會變得完全合理和有意義。它將歷史焦點從政治精英的宏大敘事，轉向了普通民眾的流行信仰和精神狀態（世界觀）。

應用此教訓：將新冠疫情社交距離視為文化文本

達恩頓的「屠貓記」教導我們，極端、突然的社會變革往往會揭示潛在的文化緊張關係，並創造新的反轉儀式。我們可以將此視角應用於最近新冠疫情期間強制執行的社交距離：

• 事件： 實施普遍的空間屏障（2米/6英尺）、強制要求佩戴口罩，以及關閉公共社交場所。

• 經驗： 對許多人來說，遵守社交距離是集體責任和公共美德的必要行為——一種擊敗隱形敵人的共同「儀式」。然而，對另一些人來說，它變成了政府越權、自由喪失和對官方敘事不信任的象徵。

• 神話/顛覆： 屠貓記是對師傅權威的顛覆性嘲笑。在疫情期間，不遵守規定的人（嘲笑口罩或秘密聚會的人）就是象徵性的等價物。他們的違抗行為是對實施了新的、限制性社會秩序的「道德主宰」（科學家、政府、順從的公民）的儀式性社會反轉行為。反口罩者，就像學徒一樣，通過一種挑釁性的、儘管危險的違規行為，表達了對權威根深蒂固的不信任和重新獲得自主權的渴望。

通過使用達恩頓的方法論，我們看到新冠疫情的社交距離不僅是一種公共衛生政策，也是一種文化「文本」，它突出並放大了自由與權威、個人選擇與集體責任之間現有的緊張關係。

The Laughing Executioners: Deciphering the Great Cat Massacre

 

🐈 The Laughing Executioners: Deciphering the Great Cat Massacre

The 1730s in Paris saw a bizarre and violent episode: a ritualistic massacre of cats by printing shop apprentices.¹ This event, far from being a random act of cruelty, became the focus of Robert Darnton's seminal 1984 essay, "The Great Cat Massacre," which used an anthropological lens to unlock the cultural and social codes of 18th-century French workers.²

Decoding a Cultural Text

Darnton's groundbreaking contribution lies in his treatment of the event as a cultural text. His central question was: Why was this incident, recounted with enormous hilarity by the perpetrators, funny to them? By seeking the answer, he illuminated the worldview of the lower classes, a perspective often lost in formal history.

1. The Event: Frustrated by long hours, poor food, and contempt from their master and his wife, printing apprentices staged a mock trial and brutal execution of local cats, including the wife’s beloved pet, la grise.

2. The Context: The masters and their pampered pets symbolized the arbitrary power and privilege of the elite. Meanwhile, the apprentices lived under precarious conditions, often sleeping in cold workshops and fearing the influence of their superiors.

3. The Symbolism: The cat, particularly the black cat (or the grey one in this case), was deeply associated with witchcraft, the Devil, and illicit sex in popular French folklore. By subjecting the cats to a formal trial and painful execution, the apprentices were symbolically enacting a witch-hunt against their master's wife, a figure they despised and feared as an abusive figure with "magical" control over their lives.

The cat massacre was thus a subversive, cathartic ritual of social inversion.³ It was a safe way for the workers to express the violence and resentment they felt toward authority through licensed misrule, drawing upon the traditions of Carnival where the social order was temporarily turned upside down.

The Importance of Darnton's Work 🧠

Darnton's article is foundational to cultural history and is widely taught in anthropology because of its methodology.⁴ It demonstrates how seemingly irrational or bizarre events can become perfectly rational and meaningful when decoded using the internal logic of the culture that produced them. It shifted historical focus from the grand narratives of political elites to the popular beliefs and mentalités (worldviews) of the common people.

Applying the Lesson: COVID-19 Social Distancing as a Cultural Text

Darnton's "Cat Massacre" teaches us that extreme, sudden societal changes often reveal underlying cultural tensions and create new rituals of inversion. We can apply this lens to the recent mandatory social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic:

• The Event: The imposition of universal spatial barriers (2 meters/6 feet), the required wearing of masks, and the closure of public social spaces.

• The Experience: For many, the compliance with social distancing was a necessary act of collective responsibility and public virtue—a shared "ritual" to defeat an invisible enemy. However, for others, it became a symbol of government overreach, loss of liberty, and distrust of official narratives.

• The Myth/Subversion: The cat massacre was subversive laughter at the master's authority. During the pandemic, the non-compliant (those who mocked masks or gathered secretly) were the symbolic equivalents. Their defiance was a ritualistic act of social inversion against the "moral masters" (scientists, government, compliant citizens) who had enforced a new, restrictive social order. The anti-masker, like the apprentice, was expressing deep-seated distrust of authority and a desire to reclaim agency through a defiant, though dangerous, act of transgression.

By using Darnton’s methodology, we see that COVID-19 social distancing was not just a public health policy, but a cultural "text" that highlighted and amplified existing tensions between freedom and authority, individual choice and collective responsibility.

Brexit Through Cohen's Three Keys: Event, Experience, and Myth

 

Brexit Through Cohen's Three Keys: Event, Experience, and Myth

The United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union – Brexit – is arguably the most significant political event in modern British history. Like the Boxer Rebellion, it is not merely a collection of facts, but a complex phenomenon whose understanding has been shaped by its immediate unfolding, the diverse experiences of those involved, and the subsequent narratives constructed around it. Applying Paul A. Cohen's framework from History in Three Keys allows us to dissect Brexit's lasting historiography.

Key One: Brexit as Event 

This key focuses on the verifiable sequence of actions and decisions that constitute Brexit. It's the factual chronology:

• The 2016 Referendum: The political decision to hold the referendum, the campaign leading up to it, and the 51.9% vote to Leave.

• Article 50 Trigger: The formal notification to the EU of the UK's intention to withdraw.

• Negotiations: The protracted and often acrimonious negotiations between the UK and the EU regarding withdrawal terms, future trade relationships, and the Northern Ireland Protocol.

• Withdrawal and Trade Agreements: The signing and ratification of the various treaties that legally separated the UK from the EU and established a new trading relationship.

• Key Actors: The prime ministers (Cameron, May, Johnson, Truss, Sunak), EU officials (Barnier, Juncker, Von der Leyen), and their respective roles in the process. This key aims to provide an objective, factual account of "what actually happened" throughout the Brexit process, from its inception to its current legal and economic realities.

Key Two: Brexit as Experience 

Beyond the bare facts, this key explores the deeply subjective and often emotional "experience" of Brexit for millions of individuals. It delves into the diverse ways people understood, felt, and responded to the changes:

• Leave Voters' Experience: The feeling of reclaiming sovereignty, taking back control, escaping burdensome regulations, and addressing perceived issues like uncontrolled immigration. This often stemmed from a sense of being left behind by globalization and feeling unrepresented by the political establishment.

• Remain Voters' Experience: The sense of loss, betrayal, concern for economic stability, loss of freedom of movement, and worries about the UK's international standing and future. This often included feelings of grief,anger, and alienation from their own country's decision.

• Business Owners' Experience: Adapting to new customs checks, trade barriers, changes in supply chains, and labor shortages.

• EU Citizens in the UK / UK Citizens in the EU: Navigating new immigration rules, residency applications, and anxieties about their future status and rights.

• Northern Ireland: The complex and often painful experience of the Northern Ireland Protocol, impacting identity,trade, and peace. This key seeks to understand the lived realities, the personal stories, and the varied emotional landscapes that Brexit created, moving beyond aggregated polling data to the human dimension of the event.

Key Three: Brexit as Myth 

This key examines how Brexit has been, and continues to be, interpreted, reinterpreted, and selectively remembered to serve various political, economic, and cultural agendas. These narratives often simplify complex realities into compelling,yet frequently divisive, stories:

• The "Global Britain" Myth: Post-Brexit, a narrative emerged positioning the UK as a nimble, independent global player, forging new trade deals worldwide and free from the constraints of EU bureaucracy. This myth emphasizes future potential and national pride.

• The "Broken Britain" Myth: Conversely, critics of Brexit frequently frame it as a catastrophic national error,leading to economic decline, reduced international influence, and societal division. This narrative often blames Brexit for a wide range of national challenges.

• The "Will of the People" Myth: This narrative, often invoked by Brexiteers, asserts that the referendum result was an unequivocal expression of democratic will that must be respected above all else, often dismissing calls for closer ties with the EU.

• The "Brussels Bureaucracy" Myth: A persistent narrative portraying the EU as an undemocratic, overreaching bureaucratic monster, justifying the need for the UK's departure. These "myths" are powerful, shaping public discourse, influencing political rhetoric, and cementing deeply entrenched identities (Leave vs. Remain). They represent not just history, but a contested future.

By applying Cohen's three keys, we gain a more nuanced understanding of Brexit, recognizing it not only as a series of political maneuvers but also as a profound societal rupture whose meaning remains subject to ongoing interpretation and reinterpretation.