在威廉．白克福（ William Beckford ）的〈瓦載克〉（ Vathek) 一書中，最常 引人津津樂道的主題，便是有關其書對故事本身以及對整個東方世界所持的看法。瓦載克， 是一名 18 世紀西方作者筆下所產的東方故事人物。他和侍從們詼諧打鬧的動作，實則與其 浮士德式的追求行為，形成了一個強烈的對比。本書中尚未被完全研究的部分，便是瓦書之 註解對故事風格方面的影響。本篇論文發現，在瓦書註解中的東方主義和人種誌學，正足以 削減了瓦書對對象文化的全盤瞭解。 An often recurring interpretive issue regarding William Beckford's Vathek is that of the text's stance toward its subject and toward the East. The slapstick behavior of the Caliph Vathek and his retinue contrasts sharply with the Faustian theme of the quest for forbidden knowledge and the damnation that results from such a quest. What has not been fully investigated is the role of Vathek's explanatory notes in shaping the tone of the tale. This paper finds that the Orientalism and ethnography in the notes of Vathek serve to undercut the notion of a totalizing knowledge of the object culture.
