國族史敘事與創傷記憶: 以馬來西亞武吉哈蓬事件為討論中心

Abstract

馬來亞共產黨的歷史書寫從不缺乏爭議、複雜性和矛盾。主要是馬共於二戰、戰後英國殖民時期、1957年馬來亞獨立乃至1963年馬來西亞立國，不同階段都扮演關鍵的角色與位置。這造成圍繞馬共的國族書寫研究，多是親近官方立場的「反叛」形象，或是突出馬共「貢獻」，尋求「替代歷史」的可能以抗衡國家形塑的論述框架。時至今日，馬共的討論在馬來西亞社會上仍是某種「禁忌」，牽動國家治理的正當性與族群情緒。

本論文旨在探討武吉哈蓬事件如何不斷的重塑和再現以滿足當下社會的需求。英國殖民當局和巫統（國陣）政府透過打造反馬共框架來鞏固治理正當性與馬來西亞成立的道德合法性。本研究將武吉哈蓬事件視為反馬共框架的重要標記，藉此探討執政當局通過影像與小說創作、歷史教科書編撰與博物館空間設置等等記憶傳播媒介重構馬來西亞各族群和記憶群體間對於武吉哈蓬事件的歷史認知。本論文預計展開的脈絡如下：首先，通過討論英國殖民當局頒布馬來亞進入緊急狀態的國際與本土的內外因素釐清英國殖民政府、馬來（西）亞政府和馬共如何為這場戰爭定調，進而聚焦爬梳武吉哈蓬事件的事發經過和後續影響；再者，探討馬來（西）亞政府如何將武吉哈蓬事件視為反馬共框架的重要標記，梳理這起事件的相關敘事結構以及記憶生產的過程與條件；最終，描寫記憶的分歧、矛盾與變化，釐清反馬共記憶建構和國族論述二元對立的問題。

馬來西亞政府根據時空脈絡與政治需求持續重構和傳播反馬共敘事，間接造成馬來西亞各族群間與記憶群體間的衝突與矛盾。巫統（國陣）政府透過英雄化馬來軍警和再現戰爭慘痛經驗的反馬共敘事結構，合理化巫統乃至馬來人的政治地位。然而，當巫統（國陣）政府面臨千禧年後的馬共「記憶熱潮」（Memory Boom）、反對黨的挑戰與公民社會的批判等等種種問題，執政當局有意識的藉由淡化華人族群色彩、選擇相對中性的詞句組合與部分肯定馬共的貢獻等等敘事手法，重塑反馬共敘事以回應各方的不滿。但是，局部調整內容並沒有真正動搖馬共是國家敵人的敘事主軸，還藉此擴大建構馬共是全民公敵的形象，因此，本研究期許通過探討關於武吉哈蓬事件的敘事結構與內容，瞭解國家如何透過各類媒介傳播將其轉化為創傷記憶乃至鑲嵌至國族史敘事。本論文試圖釐清相關歷史記憶與論述的複雜脈絡，進一步反思創傷記憶與國族敘事背後的複雜性結構，方有可能跳脫各族群間與記憶群體間二元對立的窘境。唯有正視彼此的慘痛經驗，國家與社會雙向合作的重塑反馬共敘事，才會擁有尋求和解的可能途徑。

The historiography of the Malayan Communist Party is never short of controversy, complexity, and contradictions. This is mainly because the MCP played key roles at various stages, including during World War II, the post-war British colonial period, the independence of Malaya in 1957, and the formation of Malaysia in 1963. This has led to narratives about the MCP being either depicted as "rebellious" close to the government’s stance or highlighting the MCP's "contributions," seeking alternative histories to counter the state-constructed discourse framework. Even today, discussions about the MCP in Malaysian society remain somewhat "taboo," influencing the legitimacy of governance and ethnic sentiments.

This thesis explores how the Bukit Kepong incident is continuously reshaped and represented to meet the needs of contemporary society. The British colonial authorities and the UMNO (Barisan Nasional) government used the anti-MCP discourse and framework to consolidate the legitimacy of governance and the moral legitimacy of Malaysia's founding. This study regards the Bukit Kepong incident as a significant marker of the anti-MCP framework, exploring how the ruling authorities reconstruct historical cognition of the Bukit Kepong incident among various ethnic and memory communities in Malaysia through film and novels, history textbooks, and museums. The context expected to unfold in this paper is as follows: first, by discussing the internal and external factors, both international and local, that led the British colonial authorities to declare a state of emergency in Malaya, clarifying how the British colonial government, the Malaysian government, and the MCP characterized this war, then focusing on the process and aftermath of the Bukit Kepong incident; further, exploring how the Malaysian government regards the Bukit Kepong incident as a significant marker of the anti-MCP framework, sorting out the relevant narrative structures of this incident and the generated conditions and processes of memory; finally, describing the divergences, contradictions, and changes in memory, clarifying the binary opposition issues of anti-MCP memory construction and nationalism discourse.

The Malaysian government continues to reconstruct and disseminate the anti-MCP narrative based on the context of time and space and political needs, indirectly causing conflicts among various ethnic and memory groups in Malaysia. Through the heroization of the Malay police and the anti-MCP narrative structure that reproduces the painful war experiences, the UMNO (Barisan Nasional) government transforms the past painful experiences into traumatic memories, embedding them into nationalism narratives. However, as the UMNO (Barisan Nasional) government faced challenges from the "memory boom" of the MCP in post-millennial, opposition parties, and criticisms from civil society, the ruling authorities consciously used narrative techniques that de-emphasized the Chinese ethnic roles, selected relatively neutral wording combinations, and partially acknowledged the MCP's contributions to reshape the anti-MCP narrative in response to dissatisfaction from various quarters. However, the partial adjustment of content did not genuinely shake the narrative axis of the MCP as the enemy of the state, and it even expanded the construction of the MCP as a common enemy of the people. Therefore, this study aims to understand how the state transforms and embeds traumatic memories into the national history narrative through various media transmissions by exploring the narrative structure and content of the Bukit Kepong incident. This paper attempts to clarify the complex context of relevant historical memory and discourse, further reflecting on the complex structure behind trauma memory and nationalism narratives, hoping to escape the binary opposition between ethnic and memory groups. Only by facing each other's painful experiences and reshaping the anti-MCP narrative through bilateral cooperation between the state and society can we find possible paths to reconciliation.