アンチ・ファンタシーコミュの２０１２英語圏文化研究（２）

ポーの「影」

Shadow - A Parable　(1850)


Yea, though I walk through the valley of the Shadow:
Psalm of David.

YE who read are still among the living; but I who write shall have long since gone my way into the region of shadows. For indeed strange things shall happen, and secret things be known, and many centuries shall pass away, ere these memorials be seen of men. And, when seen, there will be some to disbelieve, and some to doubt, and yet a few who will find much to ponder upon in the characters here graven with a stylus of iron.

The year had been a year of terror, and of feelings more intense than terror for which there is no name upon the earth. For many prodigies and signs had taken place, and far and wide, over sea and land, the black wings of the Pestilence were spread abroad. To those, nevertheless, cunning in the stars, it was not unknown that the heavens wore an aspect of ill; and to me, the Greek Oinos, among others, it was evident that now had arrived the alternation of that seven hundred and ninety-fourth year when, at the entrance of Aries, the planet Jupiter is conjoined with the red ring of the terrible Saturnus. The peculiar spirit of the skies, if I mistake not greatly, made itself manifest, not only in the physical orb of the earth, but in the souls, imaginations, and meditations of mankind.

Over some flasks of the red Chian wine, within the walls of a noble hall, in a dim city called Ptolemais, we sat, at night, a company of seven. And to our chamber there was no entrance save by a lofty door of brass: and the door was fashioned by the artisan Corinnos, and, being of rare workmanship, was fastened from within. Black draperies, likewise, in the gloomy room, shut out from our view the moon, the lurid stars, and the peopleless streets-but the boding and the memory of Evil they would not be so excluded. There were things around us and about of which I can render no distinct account-things material and spiritual-heaviness in the atmosphere-a sense of suffocation-anxiety-and, above all, that terrible state of existence which the nervous experience when the senses are keenly living and awake, and meanwhile the powers of thought lie dormant. A dead weight hung upon us. It hung upon our limbs-upon the household furniture-upon the goblets from which we drank; and all things were depressed, and borne down thereby-all things save only the flames of the seven lamps which illumined our revel. Uprearing themselves in tall slender lines of light, they thus remained burning all pallid and motionless; and in the mirror which their lustre formed upon the round table of ebony at which we sat, each of us there assembled beheld the pallor of his own countenance, and the unquiet glare in the downcast eyes of his companions. Yet we laughed and were merry in our proper way-which was hysterical; and sang the songs of Anacreon-which are madness; and drank deeply-although the purple wine reminded us of blood. For there was yet another tenant of our chamber in the person of young Zoilus. Dead, and at full length he lay, enshrouded; the genius and the demon of the scene. Alas! he bore no portion in our mirth, save that his countenance, distorted with the plague, and his eyes, in which Death had but half extinguished the fire of the pestilence, seemed to take such interest in our merriment as the dead may haply take in the merriment of those who are to die. But although I, Oinos, felt that the eyes of the departed were upon me, still I forced myself not to perceive the bitterness of their expression, and gazing down steadily into the depths of the ebony mirror, sang with a loud and sonorous voice the songs of the son of Teios. But gradually my songs they ceased, and their echoes, rolling afar off among the sable draperies of the chamber, became weak, and undistinguishable, and so faded away.

And lo! from among those sable draperies where the sounds of the song departed, there came forth a dark and undefined shadow-a shadow such as the moon, when low in heaven, might fashion from the figure of a man: but it was the shadow neither of man nor of God, nor of any familiar thing. And quivering awhile among the draperies of the room, it at length rested in full view upon the surface of the door of brass. But the shadow was vague, and formless, and indefinite, and was the shadow neither of man nor of God-neither God of Greece, nor God of Chaldaea, nor any Egyptian God. And the shadow rested upon the brazen doorway, and under the arch of the entablature of the door, and moved not, nor spoke any word, but there became stationary and remained. And the door whereupon the shadow rested was, if I remember aright, over against the feet of the young Zoilus enshrouded. But we, the seven there assembled, having seen the shadow as it came out from among the draperies, dared not steadily behold it, but cast down our eyes, and gazed continually into the depths of the mirror of ebony. And at length I, Oinos, speaking some low words, demanded of the shadow its dwelling and its appellation. And the shadow answered, "I am SHADOW, and my dwelling is near to the Catacombs of Ptolemais, and hard by those dim plains of Helusion which border upon the foul Charonian canal." And then did we, the seven, start from our seats in horror, and stand trembling, and shuddering, and aghast, for the tones in the voice of the shadow were not the tones of any one being, but of a multitude of beings, and, varying in their cadences from syllable to syllable fell duskly upon our ears in the well-remembered and familiar accents of many thousand departed friends.

THE END

ポーの「沈黙」

Silence - A Fable　(1837)


'Eudosin d'orheon korhuphai te kai pharhagges'
'Prhones te kai charhadrhai.' ALCMAN. (60 (10),646.)
The mountain pinnacles slumber; valleys, crags and caves are silent.

"LISTEN to me," said the Demon as he placed his hand upon my head. "The region of which I speak is a dreary region in Libya, by the borders of the river Zaire. And there is no quiet there, nor silence.

"The waters of the river have a saffron and sickly hue; and they flow not onwards to the sea, but palpitate forever and forever beneath the red eye of the sun with a tumultuous and convulsive motion. For many miles on either side of the river's oozy bed is a pale desert of gigantic water-lilies. They sigh one unto the other in that solitude, and stretch towards the heaven their long and ghastly necks, and nod to and fro their everlasting heads. And there is an indistinct murmur which cometh out from among them like the rushing of subterrene water. And they sigh one unto the other.

"But there is a boundary to their realm--the boundary of the dark, horrible, lofty forest. There, like the waves about the Hebrides, the low underwood is agitated continually. But there is no wind throughout the heaven. And the tall primeval trees rock eternally hither and thither with a crashing and mighty sound. And from their high summits, one by one, drop everlasting dews. And at the roots strange poisonous flowers lie writhing in perturbed slumber. And overhead, with a rustling and loud noise, the gray clouds rush westwardly forever, until they roll, a cataract, over the fiery wall of the horizon. But there is no wind throughout the heaven. And by the shores of the river Zaire there is neither quiet nor silence.

"It was night, and the rain fell; and falling, it was rain, but, having fAllan, it was blood. And I stood in the morass among the tall and the rain fell upon my head --and the lilies sighed one unto the other in the solemnity of their desolation.

"And, all at once, the moon arose through the thin ghastly mist, and was crimson in color. And mine eyes fell upon a huge gray rock which stood by the shore of the river, and was lighted by the light of the moon. And the rock was gray, and ghastly, and tall, --and the rock was gray. Upon its front were characters engraven in the stone; and I walked through the morass of water-lilies, until I came close unto the shore, that I might read the characters upon the stone. But I could not decypher them. And I was going back into the morass, when the moon shone with a fuller red, and I turned and looked again upon the rock, and upon the characters;--and the characters were DESOLATION.

"And I looked upwards, and there stood a man upon the summit of the rock; and I hid myself among the water-lilies that I might discover the actions of the man. And the man was tall and stately in form, and was wrapped up from his shoulders to his feet in the toga of old Rome. And the outlines of his figure were indistinct--but his features were the features of a deity; for the mantle of the night, and of the mist, and of the moon, and of the dew, had left uncovered the features of his face. And his brow was lofty with thought, and his eye wild with care; and, in the few furrows upon his cheek I read the fables of sorrow, and weariness, and disgust with mankind, and a longing after solitude.

"And the man sat upon the rock, and leaned his head upon his hand, and looked out upon the desolation. He looked down into the low unquiet shrubbery, and up into the tall primeval trees, and up higher at the rustling heaven, and into the crimson moon. And I lay close within shelter of the lilies, and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; --but the night waned, and he sat upon the rock.

"And the man turned his attention from the heaven, and looked out upon the dreary river Zaire, and upon the yellow ghastly waters, and upon the pale legions of the water-lilies. And the man listened to the sighs of the water-lilies, and to the murmur that came up from among them. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; --but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.

"Then I went down into the recesses of the morass, and waded afar in among the wilderness of the lilies, and called unto the hippopotami which dwelt among the fens in the recesses of the morass. And the hippopotami heard my call, and came, with the behemoth, unto the foot of the rock, and roared loudly and fearfully beneath the moon. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; --but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.

"Then I cursed the elements with the curse of tumult; and a frightful tempest gathered in the heaven where, before, there had been no wind. And the heaven became livid with the violence of the tempest --and the rain beat upon the head of the man --and the floods of the river came down --and the river was tormented into foam --and the water-lilies shrieked within their beds --and the forest crumbled before the wind --and the thunder rolled --and the lightning fell --and the rock rocked to its foundation. And I lay close within my covert and observed the actions of the man. And the man trembled in the solitude; --but the night waned and he sat upon the rock.

"Then I grew angry and cursed, with the curse of silence, the river, and the lilies, and the wind, and the forest, and the heaven, and the thunder, and the sighs of the water-lilies. And they became accursed, and were still. And the moon ceased to totter up its pathway to heaven --and the thunder died away --and the lightning did not flash --and the clouds hung motionless --and the waters sunk to their level and remained --and the trees ceased to rock --and the water-lilies sighed no more --and the murmur was heard no longer from among them, nor any shadow of sound throughout the vast illimitable desert. And I looked upon the characters of the rock, and they were changed; --and the characters were SILENCE.

"And mine eyes fell upon the countenance of the man, and his countenance was wan with terror. And, hurriedly, he raised his head from his hand, and stood forth upon the rock and listened. But there was no voice throughout the vast illimitable desert, and the characters upon the rock were SILENCE. And the man shuddered, and turned his face away, and fled afar off, in haste, so that I beheld him no more."

Now there are fine tales in the volumes of the Magi --in the iron-bound, melancholy volumes of the Magi. Therein, I say, are glorious histories of the Heaven, and of the Earth, and of the mighty sea --and of the Genii that over-ruled the sea, and the earth, and the lofty heaven. There was much lore too in the sayings which were said by the Sybils; and holy, holy things were heard of old by the dim leaves that trembled around Dodona --but, as Allah liveth, that fable which the Demon told me as he sat by my side in the shadow of the tomb, I hold to be the most wonderful of all! And as the Demon made an end of his story, he fell back within the cavity of the tomb and laughed. And I could not laugh with the Demon, and he cursed me because I could not laugh. And the lynx which dwelleth forever in the tomb, came out therefrom, and lay down at the feet of the Demon, and looked at him steadily in the face.

THE END

マトリクス表記
例としてBlack Rock★shooter の属性をマトリクスで表記してみます

エクセルの表なので、「ReaD研究者情報」にアップします。
リンクはこちら
http://researchmap.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=multidatabase_view_main_detail&content_id=10239&multidatabase_id=12949&block_id=1861270#_1861270

マトリクス表記の趣旨については以下を参照して下さい
アリスゲーム
http://researchmap.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=multidatabase_view_main_detail&content_id=10237&multidatabase_id=12727&block_id=1858362#_1858362

アリスゲーム記入例
http://researchmap.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=multidatabase_view_main_detail&content_id=10238&multidatabase_id=12727&block_id=1858362#_1858362

マトリクス表記応用例
http://researchmap.jp/index.php?action=pages_view_main&active_action=multidatabase_view_main_detail&content_id=10243&multidatabase_id=12727&block_id=1858362#_1858362

マトリクス

　ストレールは彼女が本書で問題として取り上げた新傾向の作品群を参照する呼称として、最終的に“アクチュアリズム”（actualism）という名辞を選ぶことを提唱する。その根拠は勿論、厳然として独固とした存在性を有する物質世界として無条件に前提されていた、“リアリティ”＝“res” という概念に代替すべく持ち出されたこの“アクチュアリティ”（actuality）という語が、哲学にも造詣の深い新感覚の物理学者ヴェルナー・ハイゼンベルグが、現実世界における“存在物”と“事象の生成”のメカニズムを新たに整合的に定式化するために採用した、非常に説得力のある概念であったことである。ハイゼンベルグは多義的な潜在的可能性の束である “行列”（マトリクス）として記述可能な言わばある種の原形質（プレローマ）を想定するという形で、現象としての発現以前の宇宙の基体を捉え、これらが「意識の主体による観測や知覚という操作との相互作用の結果、実在物として質量を持った“存在性”を収束させる」という図式で、かつて科学あるいはそれ以前の思考の場で伝統的に用いられていた“質料”という概念の再定式化を図ったのであった。これがいわゆる量子理論の“コペンハーゲン解釈”と呼ばれるものであったが、ハイゼンベルグに代表される一派の示したこの解式に対して、あるいは“物質波”という概念を提唱した別派に属するド・ブロイの提示した共軛的解を併記するならば、同等の原形質が「“波動”という様態を示す“現象性”を収束させる」と語り直すこともできることとなる。つまりこの定式は、アインシュタインの相対性理論の提示することになった等価原理の法則に従って、相補的な代替記述を原理的に容認するものなのであった。こうして、ニュートン以来の古典力学が固有の公理系を成立させる根幹条件として採用してきた、「３次元の空間に予め存在し、質点としてふるまう“質料”の行う、定まった物理法則に従った連鎖的運動」という、実際には限界ある力学的原理に基づいた、かつての“普遍法則”の図式を根幹的に覆し、“現実世界”に何らかの“現象”が“発現する”という事象を導くミクロの次元での量子的前存在様態を新たに考察の対象に含めたニュー・サイエンス的解釈は、ポストモダンの作家と読者達の支持する新規の“世界認識”の基底となるに至っていたのである。

上の註

マトリクス
　数学における“マトリクス”は、加法や乗法などの算術を行うことができる縦横の数列からなる表によって記された数量であるが、語源的には“基盤”、“母性”等の意味があり、ハイゼンベルグの関心にあった宇宙の原初的構成単位としての概念に様々な角度から相応している。

プレローマ
　“プレローマ”という語は、元来はグノーシス思想において考えられていた、現世とは異なる天上界を指す神話的概念であったが、ユングによって全ての存在性の根幹としてある原存在物としての意味合いを持つ述語として新たに用いられることとなった。ニュートン力学によって完成された意味の体系が崩壊した時、様々な歴史的に先行する概念と述語が新解釈の許に再選択されねばならなかったということを示す、説得力のある実例の一つであろう。ファンタシーの誕生と、衰退の後の復権の要因となったものを理解するための鍵となる発想がここにある。

質量点と力学
　これがいわゆる“物理学”（physics）の前提とするところであったが、ニュートン力学を規定する諸概念に対して拮抗して作用する相補的概念を新たに設け、例えば“materia”に対しては“spiritua”を、“atom”に対しては“monad”を、“gravity”に対しては“repulsion”等を構想して拡張された統括系の構築を図るのが、“形而上学”（metaphysics）の企図したところであったと言えよう。

多義性の示唆する存在同一性概念の破綻
　量子的ゆらぎにも似て、自発動的に様相を転変する世界の基幹因子は、時空座標における時間的連続性という特質のみにおいて信じられて来た同一存在の内実における異質性の様相の顕現を許容する、多義性の原理のもう一つの現れとして理解することができよう。あるいはまたこの寓話の意味するところは、位置座標のみならず存在・属性・関係性を規定する因子となる意味座標の軸あるいは要素を決定するセルの各々の値が恣意的に変動あるいは他と変換することが可能な多様性のゆらぎ構造においては、類似性と同一性あるいは差異性を截然と分つべき原理の存在自体が全く失われてしまうことを暗示するものとして理解することができるものかもしれない。

「影」という寓話が語る究極の真実は、全てが境界を失って一つのものに還帰する始源の宇宙の姿を指し示すものとなる。様々の差異を持つ異なる多様なものとして認識される世界の実相は、反転的に全ての背後にある共通する同一性を見出す可能性があることを暗示している。これを「初音ミク」で考えたのが、以下の論文です。

仮構とフィギュアと自己同一性
http://www.linkclub.or.jp/~mac-kuro/anti/figure/figure.htm

初音ミクに多様な変化形があるばかりでなく、あらゆる存在物を初音ミクの変異形として記述することも可能になる訳です。
マトリクス＝原存マントラー（真言）