身體作為調節器？臺灣中學舞蹈班女孩的機構化規訓、認同及其反思實踐

Body as Mediator? Institutionalizing Bodily Disciplinary Techniques, Identities and Reflexive Practices of Female High School Dance Class Students in Taiwan

教育領域對身體的關注很少，特別是在華文學術界。體制內中學舞蹈班女孩身體，往往是符合當代主流價值觀中「美」的一群，然而，在這些「標準身體」背後的機制是什麼？機構化規訓技術如何作用於身體，女孩們又如何以身體回應？其與認同的關聯為何？本研究從後結構女性主義觀點出發，但不囿於理論本身，透過質性研究，從空間、時間、論述、檢核，以及權力關係等面向，嘗試理解約莫在千禧年後臺灣中學舞蹈教育的身體形塑過程圖像，而舞蹈班女孩們的身體反思實踐為何？研究發現，除了透過具體空間上的區隔配置、時間上嚴密訓練時間表與考核、生活上飲食與身體控制的專業論述與施為，更在師生、學長姐不可踰越的階序文化下之影響脈絡中，穩穩地維繫住階層化權力關係下認定的舞蹈班女孩身體規訓歷程，而磨心志的話語、尊師重道、身分差序這些華人儒家社會文化，更在臺灣升學體制與高度競爭文化中，成為規訓體制的共謀。儘管如此，不同型式的抗拒依然進行著，女孩以身體反向回應規訓權力；然而，在一般體制內中學秀異區隔存在之舞蹈班，值得驕傲的舞者認同反使得機構化規訓更為容易、更根深柢固。本研究發現，看似對體制的抵制施為，事實上對權力的鞏固本身有著一體兩面的雙重性特質，透過這些抗拒進而鞏固權力本身，主體性似乎也加入論述權力之中。本研究在理論上的重要貢獻在於發現「認同」在機構化規訓中的角色，這也是Foucault理論沒能觸及的面向，亦陳顯出儒家文化場域、升學體制與競爭文化的特殊性，讓西方近代身體研究中之「可溝通的身體」呈現反向、更複雜的內涵。

The body has received scant attention in the field of education, particularly in pan-Chinese academia. Female high school students in dance classes within the broader school system typically strive to conform to mainstream beauty standards. However, this raises important questions: What underlies the standards for what constitutes “beautiful bodies”? How do female students respond to those standards with their own bodies, and how do their responses relate to their identities as dancers? Departing from post-structuralist feminism and not limited to extant theories, this research aims to explore how dance education at the secondary school level in Taiwan consciously or unconsciously constructs a set of disciplinary mechanisms in order to train high school girls’ bodies and their body reflexive practice. The study finds that dance class teachers discipline girls’ bodies through segregation and spatial arrangements, programmed learning and frequent assessment, in addition to exposure to discourse about diet and weight control. Furthermore, hierarchical cultures of power relationships maintain and reinforce those mechanisms’ effect on bodily discipline in the context of the hyper-competitive culture of Taiwan’s dance class enrollment system. Moreover, Confucian values such as ‘grind your mind’, ‘respect teachers’, and ‘status hierarchy’ conspire to operate as a body discipline mechanism. Additionally, the girls’ distinctive dancer identities become the key element in discipling their bodies more effectively. Even though they manifest various forms of resistance, the female students’ body reflexive practices, while seemingly resisting the system, have the unintended effect of introducing a ‘duality’ function to the body mechanism, which automatically interweaves subjectivities into discursive power. However, within general institutionalized academic settings, the existence of distinguished dance classes in junior high schools reinforces a sense of pride among talented dancers, which, paradoxically, makes institutionalized discipline easier and causes it to be more deeply ingrained. This study finds that what appears to be students’ resistance against the system actually serves to consolidate power in a dual nature, reinforcing power itself through these very acts of resistance. Thus, subjectivity seems to become intertwined with the discourse of power. The theoretical contribution of this study is to explore the role of “identification” within the context of institutionalized discipline; an aspect that Foucault’s theory did not fully address. It also reveals the uniqueness of the Confucian cultural context, the examination-oriented education system, and the culture of competition, which present a reverse-image, and more complex interpretation of the “communicative body” as observed in modern Western studies on the body.