本文主要探討貴州東部苗族的男性地方菁英，如何經由語言(發聲)行動，創造及經驗其特定的「土著現代性J(the indigenization of moderni

ty)。有別於過去漢對苗人的觀點傾向「漢文化傳統的女性延續者」之異己論 述，本文聚焦在一場苗族村棄長達四年(2000-2003)的大型吃鼓藏祭祖儀式的文化復振行動裡'以及擔任儀式頭人或地方的行政、政治領袖之男性地方菁英，並尤其關注他們於當代再造的吃鼓藏儀式裡的語言事實及意識型態。經由民族誌資料，展現男性苗族地方菁英，在這場村案祭祖儀式的再造活動，如何擔任主要管道，積極對外溝通、傳遞村賽的儀式訊息，學習儀式語言及知識。針對他們個別通過甚麼樣的語彙、句于所組成的說話片段，表達對儀式復振，以及當代脈絡的特定觀點、價值及想像，本文探討通過語言的行動，苗族的男性菁英如何表達傳統與現代的多種關聯，以及通過說話表達當地現代性並以此作為對外溝通的想像與實際。本文指出:這個高地苗人村子是通過展示及演出，和外面的現代世界，創造關聯。村棄苗人的現代性不是

異化，或與傳統村棄文化有所斷離的想像及經驗的處境。相對的，現代性是在他們日常熟悉的生活場域及空間地景，對傳統儀式元素，建立新的動員。筆者以為這是貴東高地苗人通過復甦、展演一場宗教儀式，所展現之可被理解為地方或土著「現代性」的內涵。

This paper aims to explore how the “indigenization of modernity”
is experienced and created through the action of speaking (voicing). The
focus of this paper is on the Miao local elites, who have served as the ritual
heads or the local political leaders in an extensive cultural renewal feast ritual
lasting four years (from 2000 to 2003) at an upland Miao village in eastern
Guizhou. The linguistic reality and ideology in the contemporary renewal ritual
of this local village is especially emphasized in this article. Discarding the
Han Chinese’s “discourse of otherness” of the past which tended to mark
Miao people as “feminized keepers of Chinese tradition,” through the ethnographic
data gathered in this paper I will show that the local elites of Miao
were working actively throughout this indigenization act as the main channels
in communicating, passing down, and re-learning the languages and
knowledge of this feast ritual. I analyze the vocabulary and phrases used to
express their viewpoints and values toward this contemporary renewal ritual.
The local elites of the Miao express the dialectical relationship between tradition
and modernity through language. The indigenization of modernity displayed
through their voicing is a creative linkage of traditional perspectives
and modern reality that is then communicated to the outside world by
means of cultural exhibitions and ritual performances. This research seeks to
convey the richness of the adaptation of the Miao to modernity while pre-serving traditional village culture and its presentation to themselves and the
outside world as an integrated whole. Modernity has brought new challenges
and courses of action that have been blended with traditional ritual elements.
The Miao people of eastern Guizhou have embraced modernity and
made it their own.