2011-06-24

文字/電子時代的口傳技藝:一個苗栗客家山歌婚宴表演場域的觀察

吳翠松。〈文字/電子時代的口傳技藝:一個苗栗客家山歌婚宴表演場域的觀察〉。《民俗曲藝》172 (2011.6): 231-77
Wu Tsui-sung. “The Verbal Art in a Literate/Electronic Age: A Case Study of Hakka Folksong Performance in Weddings.” Journal of Chinese Ritual, Theatre and Folklore 172 (2011.6): 231-77.



Abstract

本文以 Havelock, Goody, Ong等人的媒介文化說為出發點,探究不同媒介文化思維與藝術創作在交會時所可能產生的變化與調適。研究者將問題聚焦在探討臺灣當今的文字電子文化及思維情境,對於強調即興創作的口傳技藝表演造成什麼樣的影響?為避免分析元素及參與人員過於複雜,研究者以較具俗民文化及表演特質的婚宴辦桌場合,作為研究場域,並以單人客家山歌演唱做為探討的起點。
本文研究結果發現,苗栗目前婚宴場合的山歌表演,已產生許多質變,不復見口傳技藝強調的即興、彈性特質。像是表演者為求方便,以卡拉 OK伴唱帶取代傳統現場演奏的二胡,造成整個表演朝向文字電子文化的「固定化」特色發展,亦使得表演者需配合伴唱帶節奏演唱,改變了原先樂師配合現場演唱即興調整的特色,形成一種反客為主的狀況;而客家山歌最強調的即興創作特色,已很少出現於婚宴場合,如有,主要是在某些成對字詞的替代與重組;大半表演者藉由可重覆聆聽的錄音機,提昇自己的歌唱技巧,也使得口傳技藝強調的做中學與師徒制的學習方式,有了不同的面貌。表演者與臺下觀眾距離遙遠,不太有互動,整個表演的進行與互動方式,較近似文字電子文化的劇場互動模式,與傳統口傳技藝表演中,觀眾經常扮演重要組成份子,甚而共同創造和參與演出的情形已有很大的差別。

This study, drawing on the media cultural theories of Havelock, Goody and Ong, aims to explore the changes and adaptation resulting from the conjunction of media cultural notions and artistic creation. I will focus on investigating how the literate/electronic culture affected the improvisational oral performance arts. The folkloric occasion of wedding banquets with Hakka folksong performance will be my starting point of this study.
The research results indicate that electronic product (Karaoke) had replaced traditional musical instruments (such as the erhu fiddle) to be the more common musical accompaniment in the wedding banquet circumstances. The folksong singer’s performance sequence largely follows the schedule planned by the host, leaving the verbal artists very little freedom to improvise. While in the past, an onlooker could pitch in and participate in the improvisational process, with the stage situated at a distance from the audience, there is now rarely any such mutual communication. In addition, a voice recorder with play-back button enables folksong singers to refine their singing skills through repeated listening and practicing. The traditional master-disciple mechanism that passed on the expertise of their trade no longer dominates the singers’ ways of learning.