作為縫隙的邊界： 走過戰地的馬祖衛理堂

Abstract

邊界 ( border ) 在政治地理學的學術討論中，不再只是探究邊界的區分效果，而是透過邊界所鑲嵌的時空脈絡，藉由空間上的連結來探討邊界如何產生 ( Newman 2006 )。然而在同時面對到區分與連結的特性時，我們該如何對邊界有更進一步的認識？尤其，在面對到臺澎金馬共同體中具有連結與不連結的狀態時，邊界在此又該用什麼視角來檢視？本研究以馬祖列島中的南竿島作為研究地點，並將該邊界關係用馬祖衛理堂檢視，以便推進與邊界相關的討論。馬祖衛理堂曾是南竿島上唯一的教堂，是在過去由軍政府、中華基督教衛理公會以及島上的基督徒們在互動之中所建立。該教堂在成立後，將島上原先沒有明顯宗派背景的基督徒，拉攏成為衛理公會 ( Methodist ) 的基督徒。這個過程是馬祖衛理堂成為宗教基礎設施 ( religious infrastructure ) 的過程，馬祖衛理堂在社會技術的編排 ( socio-technical arrangement ) 之中，組織起當地基督徒並且讓當地的基督宗教得以在馬祖衛理堂的運作之持續下去。而邊界的影響力，便是在社會技術編排的跨界網絡中具體化的呈現在宗教基礎設施建立、停擺、修復以及限制，呈現在當地的基督宗教地景之中。透過此案例分析，本研究認為島嶼研究中的「政治縫隙」( political interstice ) ( Kelman 2023 ) 確切描繪出邊界力量，因而本研究提出「邊界作為縫隙」( border as interstice ) 的概念來顯示邊界是在人與自然地理 ( physical geography ) 的纏繞之中，處在縫隙性的連結底下，使得邊界兩側之間的關係呈現難分難捨的狀態。因此，邊界不只是連結與區分的議題，而是人如何與社會－自然地理環境互動的議題。

Border is an essential concept for political geographers, as its effect of demarcation constructs this contemporary society ( Newman 2006 ). These days, geographers not only study the divisions of borders, but also explore their interconnections about the academic discussion of the spatio-temporal context of borders. However, given the characteristics of both disconnection and connection, how can we broaden our understanding of borders? Particularly, when facing this duality within the Taiwan-Penghu-Kinmen-Matsu (TPKM) community, what perspectives can offer us a fresh scope for borders, allowing us to not only consider them from new angles? To understand the concept of borders, this study will examine the Taiwan-Matsu relationship, focusing specifically on the Matsu Methodist Church (MMC). MMC was the only church on the Nangan Islands before, built in the interaction among the military government, Taiwan Methodist Church, and the Christians on this island. This process reveals that the church enrolls local Christians without any denominational identity into the MMC through complex socio-technical arrangements. Meanwhile, these cross-border socio-technical networks also actualize border power in the construction, limitation, and repair of religious infrastructure, as represented in the local Christian religious landscape. By the case study and the introduction of "political interstice" ( Kelman, 2023) in island studies, I propose the concept of "border as interstice," suggesting that borders exist within the entanglement between human and socio-physical geography.