本論文試圖探究山姆˙薛帕早期獨幕劇作中自我意識所扮演的角色以及其哲學、心理學、劇場以及文學上的意義。如許多批評家所指出，山姆˙薛帕的早期作品以強烈的自我意識為特色，然而，此種自我意識似乎與作者本身的個人歷史以及藝術創作有著切的關係，亦即，其身分的危機與重建。
第一章追溯山姆˙薛帕孩童時期的漂泊生涯，討論其一直存有的錯置與無歸屬感，進而由此作為其身份再造之動機。從哲學角度而言，自我意識的作用在於使得身分建構的重要元素，即「自我定位」以及「再定位」發生，從而重塑個體身分。此外，藉著與布雷希特的劇場作比較，本章亦嘗試為薛帕的劇場屬性作定位。作為一個後現代劇作家，薛帕的劇場與布雷希特有許多相似之處，然而，自我意識在山姆˙薛帕的劇場中灌注一種即刻的當下經驗，使得他的劇場獨樹一格。
第二章嘗試從私密的自我意識的角度界定感知自我的領域。從「雙重刺激」、「身體界線」以及「鏡像認知」三個角度討論私密我的範圍。文中引用《芝加哥》及《紅色十字》二劇為例，並討論劇場意像的實體性。
第三章以公開的自我意識為主軸，勾勒出認知自我的版圖，從「自我評價」、「隱匿」以及「相異觀點」三種基礎說明公眾我的範疇。由於自我與他人的身分在相互建構中生成，因此個我的意義須在社群以及文化對話的文本之中完成。文中援引《伊克魯思之母》說明人際互動之微妙。
第四章論及「焦慮」以及「慾望」二個主題，因為自我意識會導致情感宣洩的極化反應，「焦慮」成為為自我意識運作之下的自然現象。藉由《石頭花園》以及《可怕的鬼魂》二劇探討父子間的對抗與鬥爭。此外也應用佛洛伊德的心理運作機制，探索薛帕早期劇作中的伊底帕斯情結以及僭越慾望。
結論部份從後現代表演理論與實驗的觀點討論自我意識，視其從表演與文本二者相互激盪與辯證之中所生成。我嘗試將美國後現代前衛劇場分為二個時期，將薛柏對於感知我的探索歸類於前一時期的影響，而對於認知我的探討歸於後一時期的影響。最後，結論以「表演自我意識」作為薛帕的劇場之依歸，因為其「缺空性」與「流動性」在在使得個我成為經驗感知的立即接受者，使情感姿勢得以產生，也使得表演自我不斷地創造與戲玩。

This thesis intends to explore how consciousness of self characterizes Sam Shepard’s dramatic field in terms of its philosophical, psychological, theatrical and literary meaning. As is observed by many of his critics, Shepard’s early work is characterized by a heightened consciousness. However, this consciousness of self seems to be related to a thematic content, which is crucial to Shepard’s personal history as well as his artistic creation: his identity crisis and formation.
The introductory chapter traces Shepard’s sense of rootlessness to his childhood experiences as the motif of his journey of identity reconstruction. Self-consciousness is essential in the formation of the identity of the “I-ness” for the observing subject and the observed object meet each other when self-consciousness is in action. This makes “self-positing” and “re-positing,” the essential acts of identity formation, happen. Meanwhile, comparing Shepard’s theater with that of Brecht’s, I assort Shepard’s dramaturgy with the postmodern artists. Although there are apparent similarities between the two dramatists, self-consciousness distinct Shepard’s theatricality from Brecht’s with an immediacy of the experiencing present.
Chapter two maps the domain of sensory self through private consciousness of self. Three fundamental elements, “double stimulation,” “body boundary” and “mirror-image recognition” are used to clarify the private domain of self. Two plays, Chicago and Red Cross, are discussed with a view to the physicality of theatric images.
Chapter three demarcates the boundary of cognitive self through public consciousness of self. Three bases of reference--“self-esteem,” “covertness,” and “different perspectives” are included to specify the public domain of self. Since the identities of Self and Others are mutual constitutive of each other, the meaning of I-ness is to be completed in the context of the communal and cultural dialectics. The play, Icarus’s Mother is used to explicate the communal interaction.
Chapter four deals with “desire” and “anxiety.” Both of them are the natural effects of self-consciousness because it generally leads to the polarization of affective discharge. I argue that the emotional agitation featuring most of Shepard’s self-conscious characters is essentially “existential anxiety.” The parental struggle between Shepard and his father is discussed through an analysis of two plays--The Rock Garden and The Holy Ghostly. Moreover, using Freud’s theory of mind, I explore the psychological operation behind the Oedipus complex and desire of transgression in his works.
The last chapter places consciousness of self in the context of the postmodern performance theories and experiments. I argue that it is generated from the dialectics between performance and text. By categorizing the postmodern avant-garde theatricality into two phases, I attribute Shepard’s exploration of cognitive self to the first period and his investigation of cognitive self to the second period. Finally, I conclude that “performance consciousness of self” is central to Shepard’s theater for its “Absence” and fluidity make it possible for the self as the perceptual recipient to experience, for emotional gesture to generate and for the performative self to play and create without end.

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