作者:梁詠恩
(跨性別資源中心,香港)
跨兒一詞的起源
這裡我們首次引用「跨兒」這個詞語,跨兒--是跨性別資源中心主席梁詠恩,於2013年在北京工作時構想的一個概念,靈感取自於跨性別理論與酷兒理論的合體。「跨」不單是跨性別的簡稱,而「跨兒」在普通話的語境下,就成了一個獨特的個體理論。當時在中國大陸逗留了接近一個月的時間,由北京同語安排,從5月17日國際不再恐同日開始,與另一位國內的跨性別者去不同的地方及城市分享跨性別的生命故事。
當時有感「跨性別」這個詞語是從Transgender翻譯過來,初期的社群在接近毫無概念下,完完全全將西方世界的一套照般過來,對華人文化傳統的社會性別觀念,帶來了不少衝擊,也讓不少跨性別者能夠認識及接納自我。但一來不少西方概念不適用於我們的社會狀況,二來在華人傳統裡有不少多元性別的歷史與文化,傳承於我們的民族血脈中,卻因西方理論而未被發展及應用出來,對社群絕少產生影響,也局限了我們發展獨特文化色彩的性別多元理論。
在這樣的一個思維下,於2013年寫下了數百字的框架,但就一直擱在一旁。直到去年聽聞上海有個小組從2015年就命名為「Trans Talk 跨兒說」,後來國內的「跨性別中心」徵詢了「跨兒說」後,正式於2018年2月更名為「跨兒中心」並提倡使用「跨兒」一詞,本身是跨兒中心理事的我,於同年6月被邀出席中國首屆跨兒驕傲節作演講嘉賓。早前有機會與跨兒說的創辦人及跨兒中心主管討論,原來無巧不成話,我們的想法基本上如出一轍,我也會與Ta們繼續討論及發展出更多屬於華人本土的跨兒論述。
現時,「跨兒」這個詞語已經漸漸地在國內被引用,相對已經廣泛被解讀的跨性別定義來說,「跨兒」將會是一個更廣義、包容性更強的身份,而非一個二元的過渡性標籤。
The Story of Trans
We are introducing the term「跨兒」for the first time in the Chinese version of this publication, which is pronounced kuà er (sounds a little bit like queer). 跨 or kua is the first character of the Chinese term for transgender and translated literally, means ‘to cross’, while 兒 or er means child or a person. Therefore, 「跨兒」is not a direct translation nor an abbreviated format of transgender. It is a newly created term that reflects the unique non-binary gender in traditional Chinese culture especially under the context of spoken Mandarin. The founder of the Transgender Resource Center in Hong Kong, Joanne Leung, first conceived this term in 2013 while she was doing advocacy work for transgenders for about a month in Mainland China. Her visit was hosted by a local LGBT+ organization called Common Language (Tongyu) to facilitate a series of sharing sessions on her life experience as a transgender. Joanne and a Chinese transman visited different cities and venues in line with the May 17th International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia (IDAHOT). It was then and there that she realized the term transgender and the whole concept had been translated and adapted from the Western context as there is no other reference. While the West has had a great impact on how gender is perceived in the Chinese culture, and also paved the way for Chinese transgender people to understand and accept their identity, there are nevertheless, many differences between the two cultures. The Western concepts around transgender do not always apply to the Chinese. In fact, the gender diversities found historically in China and in the Chinese culture have yet to be articulated and discussed, and more or less suppressed by the Western discourse. That is why the Chinese need their own discourse and language around gender. Joanne then proceeded to draft a framework that would properly organize the hundreds of terms that would contribute to a Chinese discourse on gender, but the work was put aside until 2018, when she was invited as one of the guest speakers for the first Trans Pride event in China. Joanne found out about an organization in Shanghai called TransTalks (跨兒說) that was established in 2015. Not long afterwards, the Trans Center (跨性別中心 or Kuà Xìngbié Zhōngxīn) in China consulted TransTalks to change their Chinese name. They removed 跨性別 (Kuà Xìngbié or translated literally, crossing genders) and replaced the term with kuà er (跨兒) instead in their center name, and became 跨兒中心 (Kuà er Zhōngxīn). The name change also served to promote the usage of kuà er in China. In her capacity as a board member of Trans Center, Joanne then proceeded to discuss the idea of kuà er with the Trans Center and TransTalks, and realized that it was a happy accident that they shared the same views around kuà er. That is, in contrast with the translation of transgender in Chinese, kuà er conveys a broader and more inclusive identity. Furthermore, the most important factor is that it is not a label that depicts a transition between the binary genders, but a unique non-binary gender. Today, kuà er is being increasingly used in China.