主題演講

「臺灣多樣性：自然環境、物種、人種與語言」

李壬癸

台灣的自然生態與人文景觀都具有高度多樣性，極富特色。約三分之二的面積都是高山，平原大都在西部。台灣高山聳立，有200多座3,000公尺以上的高山。因持續不斷的地殼運動以及河川侵蝕作用，形成多樣性的地形。台灣氣候溫暖，雨量豐沛，沙洲、平原、盆地、丘陵、台地、高山等各式地形齊備，使台灣具有豐富龐雜的動植物資源。台灣陸地面積雖僅佔全世界陸地面積的0.025%，但是陸上和近海的生物多樣性和特殊性卻占全世界的2.5%到10%左右，即世界各地區平均值的一百倍以上，密度最高。台灣海洋生物的物種是所有國家平均值的400倍，種數可達全球總數的1/10。就單位面積的種數而言，台灣的昆蟲、植物、脊索動物或真菌類，在全球的排名中均名列前茅。

臺灣的人種也是非常多樣：有南島民族、漢藏民族、阿爾泰民族、南亞民族、侗傣民族等等。若以先後出現在台灣土地上而言，三萬年前很可能就有小矮人（她們是跟菲律賓呂宋島的小矮人Negritos最接近），五千年前就有南島民族，四百多年前才有漢人，近幾十年來又有來自東南亞各地區的新住民（含南亞民族、南島民族、侗傣民族）。因此臺灣就是各種不同民族的大熔爐。

台灣現有人口兩千三百萬，其中五十多萬人屬於南島民族。台灣官方認定的原住民族目前有16個族群，若加上最近才消逝的巴宰族語言和已經漢化的幾種平埔族群，台灣南島民族數量超過20個族群。各族群之間的語言差異極大，文化亦不相同。整個南島民族遍布於太平洋、印度洋，包括菲律賓、馬來西亞、印尼、馬達加斯加等島嶼地區，約佔地球三分之二的面積，總人口約四億五千萬。南島民族的起源地（homeland）在哪裡？從語言學的證據來看，南島民族的起源地就是在台灣，因為台灣南島語言的差異性最大。語言的差異性越大，顯示當地語言分化的時間越長久；反之，差異性越小，就是分化的時間越短暫，住在當地的時間也就越晚。

台灣南島語言歧異性最大，可用數詞來做說明。大家所熟悉的漢語、英語、日語等都是採用十進法，南島語言也是採用十進法。台灣南島語除了使用常見的十進法以外，數詞在十以下的，巴宰語還多了「五進法」：6是5+1，7是5+2，以五作基數。邵語、賽夏語也用減法9=10-1。還有些語言是用乘法，像泰雅語和邵語的6是2x3，8是2x4。從前在虎尾的平埔族語言Favorlang，它也用二十進法：40是2x20，50是2x20+10。台灣小小面積上，卻有著高達三種完全不同的數詞系統：十進法、五進法、二十進法，幾乎涵蓋了全世界各種民族的各式數詞系統，顯示著台灣南島語言的高度分歧（得要經過很長時間的演變），其他南洋群島地區的南島語言絕對找不到這麼分歧的現象。

Mediating the Treasures of the Nusantara: Transculturality and Folktale Retellings in Malaysian and Southeast Asian Youth Literature

Sharifah Aishah Binti Osman

As a geopolitical concept, “Nusantara”, also known as the Malay Archipelago, refers to “countries that share the Austronesian language such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines, Timor Leste, Madagascar, Oceania, as well as countries where Austronesian minorities are present such as Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and Taiwan” (Shamsuddin 2021).  In its contemporary form, Southeast Asia is well-known not only for its diversity, pluralistic societies, and interconnected borders, but also presents a fascinating and dynamic example of the intermingling of tradition and modernity in its approach towards the preservation and circulation of intangible cultural heritage, including its folklore. Like the folktales, myths and legends that have flowed and circulated along maritime Southeast Asia, the fluidity and porousness of the stories of Southeast Asia suggest shared histories and a global interdependence forged through narratives old and new. Building upon concepts drawn from Benessaieh (2010), Dagnino (2013), Rubik (2019) and Deja (2022) on transculturality in literary and cultural studies, this paper will examine two Malaysian literary texts aimed at middle-grade and young adult readers, Preeta Samarasan’s short story “Red and White” (2019) and Hanna Alkaf’s novel Hamra and the Jungle of Memories (2023). As retellings of the popular fairytales of Cinderella and Little Red Riding Hood, these two stories allude to multiple variations found in China, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Vietnam, some of which have also been adapted into illustrated books such as those by Ed Young (Yeh Shen: A Cinderella Story from China and Lon Po Po) and Laurence Yep (Auntie Tiger). By juxtaposing these two works of Malaysian youth literature as examples of transcultural productions with their Southeast Asian variations, I aim to show how these texts demonstrate the power and potential of folktale retellings as a societal means of promoting cross-cultural understanding and “establishing common grounds in multicultural contexts” (Benessaieh 28) through their interrogation and negotiation of multiple cultural influences, histories, and identities. My analysis of these two Malaysian literary texts, especially through its focus on the two spirited female protagonists, Merah and Hamra, reinforces how transculturality can transform traditional stories into dynamic sites of cultural negotiation that transcend national, ethnic and even continental boundaries. This approach not only enriches our understanding of Malaysian and Southeast Asian youth literature and culture, but also highlights the broader implications of transcultural literary studies in a globalized world.

Keywords: fairytales; folktale retellings; Malaysian youth literature; transculturality; transcultural literary studies.